Love Will Find A Way
by mahwish1
Summary: Girl, last night I forgot to mention, The way that I feel, the way that I'll remember this, When we're this young, We have nothing to lose, Just a clock to beat and a hand to choose.. - A Sorato!
1. Chapter 1

And I am back!

Hey guys how are you all? I hope you all are good.

You guys are so kind and you keep encouraging me to keep writing more stories. Thank you so much. That's why I've come up with a brand new story which I have been working on for a _very_ long time now. I hope you all will like it – oh and you already know what I'm going to say.. Yes, remember to review and tell me what your thoughts are about the first chapter ^_^

And also a huge thanks to my Beta reader for being there for me and accepting to Beta my story. You are simply great and sweetheart! 3 A huge thanks to; Uchihasaime! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

* * *

Prologue

After defeating Malomayotismon 5 years ago, peace was found all over the real world and the digital world. The younger digidestined have managed to bring peace and therefore everything was as it should be. The original chosen kids were finally finished from high school and had filled their applications to their desired universities. However they all agreed to take a year off, to enjoy the freedom and spend more time together with their friends.

Throughout their stay in high school, Matt had started to develop some feelings for the bearer of the crest of Love. He and Sora were good friends and therefore shared everything with each other. This made him slowly fall in love with her. But how was he going to tell her his feelings? What would she say? Only time will tell.

* * *

Two 19-year-olds were sitting on the floor in the middle of an apartment. Best friends Matt and Tai decided to spend some time together as they had nothing else to do. They had just finished watching a movie when Matt stood up and went to the kitchen to get two more cans of soda from the refrigerator. He returned and sat down on the couch when he saw Tai glancing at his watch.

"Look at the time, I need to go. I got a date to attend!"

With that he stood up to get his jacket.

"Whoa, wait up dude. Who's you're date?" he smirked at him and waited for his answer. The brown haired teen fumbled with his jacket as he answered in a low voice.

The blonde furrowed his eyes in confusion. "What? I didn't quite hear you?"

"…It's Sora."

Matt felt a sudden jolt when he heard Sora's name. He couldn't believe that Tai was going on a date with Sora. He was shocked but decided not to show it to his friend. He formed a smile and couldn't help but encourage him. "Damn I'm happy for you." Tai looked at him before he spoke. "You okay with this, Matt? I wasn't sure if I should have asked her, since you two spend so much time together…"

He rolled his eyes, in attempt to hide the truth. "Of course man, go for it, there's nothing to worry about."

"You sure?" Tai wanted to make sure that he was okay with him dating Sora.

"Yeah! Now go, you're going to be late for you date. We can't have her waiting for you, now can we?"

Tai nodded and smiled back at his best friend. "You're right. I should probably go now." He adjusted his jacket.

"Good luck man."

"Thanks, I'll talk to you later," he then turned around and walked himself out from the house as he left his blonde friend alone with his thoughts. Matt took a deep breath as he leaned back into the couch. He looked up into the ceiling as different thoughts ran through his mind.

He couldn't believe that his best friend was going on a date with the girl he had developed feelings towards. He couldn't help but think how Tai couldn't see that. They were best friends after all and had known each other for years. But then again he should have known that Tai liked Sora. He sat there in his living room staring at the two cans of soda that were lying on the table – untouched.

A couple of weeks later Yolie had arranged a small gathering at her parent's house. Everyone was there and enjoying themselves. Matt stood in the living room with a drink in his hand and took a glance around. He saw Davis, Ken and Izzy discussing about something – mainly about the Digital world. Mimi, Yolie and Kari were in the kitchen preparing dinner and setting the table for later. Then he noticed Tai and Sora. Both were having a great time with each other as they were laughing about something. He couldn't help but feel a bit sad by the fact that they were now dating each other. But he needed to move on; he needed to be happy for both of his best friends.

He stood starring at them for some time that he didn't notice TK walk up to him. The younger brother smiled at his brother. "Hey you okay?"

Matt came out of his thoughts and gave a light frown as he took a sip from his drink. "Yeah I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged. "I don't know? Maybe because you've been staring at Tai and Sora for a quite some time now."

He raised his eyebrow at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I know how you feel, Matt! You don't have to hide it from me."

He remained silent for some time but chose to face him with a small sad smile. "I can't hide anything from you, can I Teeks?"

"You okay?"

Matt placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine… I will be with time," he muttered the last part hoping TK didn't catch it, but he had.

Before they could continue talking, Mimi came out from the kitchen with a huge smile on. "Alright guys, food's ready!"

Tai stood up from his seat and couldn't help but feel happy. "Oh god, finally, I'm starving!"

Everyone laughed at the pure excitement he had for the food. The younger brunette laughed. "You're always hungry, big brother."

With that they all sat down around the big dining table and began to eat and enjoy each other's company.

"Alright bye guys!"

Matt came out from the music studio with his guitar swung over his shoulder. He and his band mates had just finished a meeting with their manager. He walked toward the parking lot where his car was parked. He opened the backseat of his car and placed his guitar inside then he closed the door after him. He then sat in the driving seat and took out his cellphone where he dialed a familiar number. He put the phone on loud speaker and placed it on the phone holder which was inside the car. He started the engine of his car and reversed out of the parking lot. In the meantime he could hear someone pick up the phone from the other line.

"_Hey bro!_" he could hear a cheerful voice coming through.

"Hey TK, what's up?"

"_Nothing much, I'm home, getting bored out of my mind!_"

The older blond gave a laugh from himself. "Ah I get it, so where is Kari?"

"_She's at – Wait a minute, what makes you think she's not here?_"

"Easy! First of all you'll never get bored when she's around which means you wouldn't have bothered to pick up the phone for god knows what you two are doing."

"_Yeah yeah whatever. What are doing?_"

"Driving actually. I've just finished a meeting with the band and our manager and – Hold on TK..." Matt turned the car around the block and shifted the gear of his car.

"_Matt? You there?_"

"Yeah I'm here. I got some news for you. We got a new contract with a record studio"

"_What! That's great, bro._"

"Thanks we're all pretty much excited for it too"

"_I can only imagine. Music has always been a big part of your life. So tell me what's the name of the studio? Where is the studio? Where did you get the contract?_"

That was the question he was afraid to get from his brother. He didn't even know how he was going to break the news to him. He took a deep breath and prepared himself to tell him the news. "… America. TK, I'm moving."

TK was shocked to hear what his older brother was telling him. "_What? America? Why so far away? You can get plenty of contracts here! There's no..._" then suddenly something hit him. "_Matt, you're not doing this because of Sora, are you?_"

"What? No TK I'm not doing this because of that. I just thought it would be good for the band if we took the offer and besides I could use some time alone as well and try out something new for a change."

TK listened carefully to what his brother had to say. "_Alright if that's what you want, then I'm going to support you._"

"Thanks TK, it really means a lot to me. Listen I'll catch you later, 'kay?"

"_Yeah later bro._" They both hung up. Matt had already reached his apartment. He parked the car and got out to get his guitar bag out from the back seat. He swung it over his shoulder and walked towards the front door where he let himself inside. He noticed that the apartment was empty. His father had not returned from work. He got inside his bedroom where he placed the bag on the bed and walked back into the kitchen where he took out a water bottle from the refrigerator. He opened it and drank from it. He sighed and took a glance around the living room and decided to turn on the TV where a crime series was on. He then took his laptop and sat down in the couch where he noticed that he had received an e-mail from an unknown person.

He opened it and saw that it was from a guy called Michael, who had sent him information about the new house Matt had bought a couple of months ago, which he had opened for rent on a website. He read his mail and saw that he was interested in renting the house for his wife and himself. He was willing to pay the rent each month, which Matt was very happy about to hear. He was relieved by the fact that he had finally got someone who wanted to rent it as he officially hadn't moved out from his father's place. He clicked on the 'Reply' button and wrote that he could come over and see the house whenever they had time so they could arrange the papers for them to rent it if they still were interested in renting it.

He then placed the laptop on the coffee table in front of him and exhaled loudly. He ran a hand through his hair as he felt himself getting tired. He sat there in his living room where he continued to watch the crime series. He didn't notice himself falling asleep on the couch.

Within 2 weeks the news about Matt leaving for America had traveled among the friends. They had all showed him support and wished him the best in the future. He and his band mates had already booked the flight tickets and had therefore made all the preparations until the day they were leaving. This included also arranging a concert for their fans in Japan.

Matt was driving toward the studio to get the last things arranged when he saw a familiar figure a couple of meters away from him. He drove a bit closer when he saw Sora, walking on the sidewalk.

He drove on the side of the road where she was carrying her tennis bag on her back. '_She must have been to tennis since she's walking home'_ he thought to herself. Sora noticed a vehicle driving slowly beside her so she looked at the side. Matt rolled down his window and looked out. "Hey Sor' hop in."

The auburn haired girl broke into a smile when she saw the blonde friend of hers. "Oh hey Matt, what are you doing here?"

"I was just driving toward the studio to meet up with the guys when I suddenly saw you here. Come on in, I can give you a lift home."

"Oh you don't have to. Really, I don't want you to be late for your meeting."

He laughed and gave her a warm smile. "Don't worry Sora I've got plenty of time"

"You sure?"

"Yes now get in"

She walked to the other side and opened the passenger seat and climbed in. They then drove toward Sora's house.

"I didn't get the chance to say tell you that I'm happy for you and the band. I hope you guys do well."

"Thanks Sor. We'll be holding a concert on this Friday so you better be there with the others"

"Of course we'll be there at your concert. I'm sure it's going to be the biggest one for you guys"

"Yeah I just hope everything goes well for us"

She placed a hand on his arm. "I'm sure everything is going to be fine. I just know it"

He looked into her eyes and answered. "Thanks Sor, it means a lot coming from you." She simply smiled back at him, before he turned his attention back on the road.

They were now 5 minutes away from her house and silence filled the car. She turned her attention toward the passing trees and roads when she decided to ask him a question that she had been asking herself for a quite some time. "How long will you be gone for?"

He parked the car outside the house where he chose to look at her. "I'm not quite sure. I haven't decided yet, maybe months or even years." She nodded and got her bag where she opened the car door. "Thanks for dropping me home."

"You welcome." He watched her getting out and closed the door behind her where she leaned in the car window. "And Matt, I hope it's just months," she gave him a long lasting smile before she leaned back up and turned around where she walked toward the front door.

Matt sat back into the car where he watched her getting inside of the house. Did she just tell him that she wanted him to come back sooner from his tour to America? A smile formed on his lips when he started the engine and drove toward the music studio to attend the meeting.

* * *

Matt stood in front of the crowd as he just had finished singing some of his famous songs. It was Friday and he was holding a goodbye-concert for all the fans in Japan. He silently smiled as he glanced around the large concert hall where he caught familiar faces in the crowd. They were all screaming and showing him their support. He suddenly caught a brunet who was sitting with the rest of his friends and waving their hands. His mind traveled back to the conversation he had with his best friend.

:Flashback:

"_So, I've heard that you're moving."_

_The blonde looked up to meet the brunet's eyes and nodded. "Yeah, thought it would be good for the band to perform others places and get new contracts as well."_

_Tai nodded and took a long glance at him. "When will you be leaving?"_

"_Next week, we have already booked our flight."_

_He placed his hand on his friend's shoulder and smiled. "Well I'm happy for you man. We all are."_

"_Thanks. It means a lot"_

"_We really hope you do well there. Just remember not to forget us in the process of getting famous, alright?" He lightly joked._

"_Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything like that, and you know it. You guys know how I am toward the whole situation. Besides you guys were the first ones who ever heard us perform at the beginning of our career."_

"_You know what? You're right, if it weren't for us, you guys wouldn't be here. You should take us all out for dinner or something!" He lightly laughed at the idea._

_Matt rolled his eyes and lightly punched him on his arm._

He snapped out of thoughts and smiled. He gripped the microphone as he spoke loud enough to make them hear him.

"Thank you so much for being an awesome crowd! You guys rock. Alright, moving on to our last song for tonight. It's called "Home is Where the Heart is." Actually this is probably the last song we'll play for you guys here in Japan. Hope you guys will enjoy it."

Matt gave a small nod to his band mates and eventually began to play a soft guitar tune before he began to sing.

_I'm a lover, I'm not a fighter  
Hold me close and I'll take you higher than you've ever been  
Raise your hands and lay down your weapons  
We could turn this around in seconds flat  
If you believe_

_Home is where the heart is  
It's where we started  
Where we belong, singing  
Home is where the heart is  
It's where we started  
Where we belong_

Slowly the others began to play their instruments as they started to build up the pace as well, and started to sing along with Matt.

_Light a fire and write a sonnet  
Pin your hopes and your dreams upon it now, come and sing with us  
Calling out to your children's children  
Let there be love and let them scream it loud  
Before we bite the dust_

The audience started to move along the music and raised their hands up in the air as well.

_So come on  
Home is where the heart is  
It's where we started  
Where we belong, singing  
Home is where the heart is  
It's where we started  
Where we belong_

Every band member sang a line as they played the music to it. Matt gripped the microphone as he sang the second verse while looking down at the moving crowd in front of him – more importantly he looked at his friends as he sang. He saw that they all smirked at him and showed their support to him.

_In these troubled days of anger  
We're afraid of every stranger  
But today we're changing history  
It's OK to sing it with me_

_Now's your chance think of your lovers  
We are all sisters and brothers  
Now's your chance think of your lovers  
We are all sisters and brothers_

Soon enough Yutaka took over the beat as a soloist and played the bass guitar. He smiled as he ran his fingers through the strings when he took a glance around the crowd and smirked, as they clearly enjoyed their performance.

_Home, Home_

Yutaka managed to hold the beat with his guitar as Matt started to sing again.

_Home is where the heart is  
It's where we started  
Where we belong_

As he sang the last line, he started to build the beat up. Now, everyone's eyes were glued on him only as he played the strong tune of the song. Slowly the drum could be heard alongside the bass guitar. Matt smirked and walked toward Akira, giving him a chance to show off his skills in the field of playing the keyboard. The beat was going far too fast as Akira ended it by playing the different keys of the piano. This time everyone chose to sing along with the band.

This was one of the band's trademarks. They all gave each other space, enough to show what they could do with each instrument they had. Matt always made sure of that.

_Home is where the heart is  
It's where we started  
Where we belong, singing_

_Home is where the heart is  
It's where we started  
Where we belong, singing_

_Home is where the heart is  
It's where we started  
Where we belong_

The music was loud in everyone's ears as they all enjoyed the last concert of The Wolves.

_Where we belong  
Where we belong  
Where we belong  
Where we belong_

The music started to fade out in a gentle way and slowly they all could hear the roars and screams of their fans as they finished singing.

"Thank you so much for supporting us. We hope you have a nice evening." The band mates waved to the crowd as they took their leave from the stage.

* * *

The song I used was Mcfly – "Home is where the heart is".

Thank you so much for reading and please, do remember to review the chapter. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Hey Guys! So sorry for keeping you waiting. I've been so busy lately with Uni and the exams.

Anyway I'm really glad to know that you all have enjoyed reading the first part - It totally made my day! Although I wish I could get more reviews and hear your thoughts, but anyway let's see in the future shall we?

**Momokojpop** - Thank you so much for your kind words. It really warms the heart. Trust me, I've spend a lot of time on this story. By the way I really love your story as well. I'm going to look forward to read the next chapter of yours. :)

**Azure-Wulfe** - Even I feel there isn't enough Sorato stories out there. That was actually one of the main reason I've started writing. You wouldn't believe it, but I've got a thousand of different ideas on stories to write, I just need time to do so. Hehe.. Anyway, I'm really happy to know that you liked the song. I could totally see Matt singing it on a stage. I think you will like reading this because there is some pretty awesome songs used further on. ;)

**Koumi-Loc** - Thank you! Hmm, I guess you just have to stick around to find out.. ;)

**Aveza** - Oh My God! Thank you so much for the lovely words. I'm so glad to know that you liked it. It made me really happy to know that you could easily picturize almost everything - especially concert scene.

Once again thank you for all those who reviewed and read this. Okay, enough of my blabbing.

On the with the Story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

* * *

**_Chapter 2_  
**

Today was the day when Matt was leaving for America with his band mates. Their flight was later on in the evening and therefore TK decided to drive to Matt's place to check up how his packing was going. He parked his car upfront and let himself inside the apartment. He looked around in search for his older brother. "Matt?"

"In here," a voice came from the bedroom. TK walked past the hallway where he saw his brother packing his clothes into a black suitcase. "What's wrong, can't get all of your things into the suitcase?" he lightly teased him when he came inside the room.

The older blonde threw him a glare, which shut the younger brother up. Matt sighed and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Sorry TK, I guess I'm just stressed right now."

"Nah it's okay, bro. I understand. Do you need help with anything?"

"I think I've got everything settled already." He closed the suitcase and placed it in the hallway.

"Did you meet up with dad?"

"Yeah we had lunch together before he left to work, which reminds me of something." He walked toward a shelf and picked up the key of the apartment and handed it to TK. "Dad told me to give you the spare key, in case I lose it while I'm traveling."

"Of course."

He then walked to his bedroom. Where he came back inside, he saw TK sitting on couch and watching TV. He came in front of him and handed him an envelope with some money in it.

The younger brother looked up at him in confusion. "What's that?"

"It's some money so you can buy a couple of things and food for dad and yourself. I didn't have the time to get it done myself so I'm giving you the money."

"Matt keep it. I've got money on my own. I don't need it."

"Just.. Keep it, TK. It's for you and dad. I know how he is when he comes home late from work. Just make sure that you buy some easy-to-cook food so he wouldn't have to think about it when he gets home."

TK could already see how his brother was having a hard time to express his concern toward their father. Nevertheless he felt happy that he had made this gesture toward them. "Okay, I'll keep the money. I'm sure dad's going to be happy to know that you did this for him."

Matt turned around and decided to change the topic. "So uhm, is everyone coming to the airport?"

He lightly shook his head knowing Matt wanted to change the topic. Just like the way he had done at their first adventure to the Digital world when he had told Gabumon to sit next to him as he wanted him to feel warm and not freeze all night.

"Yeah, they all are coming to say their byes to you and the guys." TK sat down on the couch opposite his brother.

"I'm sure going to miss them." He took a look around the living room. "This place, the people I know."

The younger blonde smiled sadly as he watched Matt take a look around. "We're going to miss you too, you know." They both looked at each other and gave a small smile.

"So what do you say we order some pizza? There's still a couple of hours left before we have to be at the airport."

"Sounds like a great idea, just make sure there's no spices on the pizza." He still hadn't forgotten what happened to him last time he had eaten pizza with Matt. He was so close on dying– literally.

"Oh don't worry." A small evil smirk appeared on the older blonde and took out his cell phone to dial the number.

They ordered the pizza and within 20 minutes they had managed to get it. They took out some plates from the cupboard and began to take a slice out.

Matt sat back into the couch as he causally took a bite of his slice. He watched TK with the corner of his eye when he had taken his first bite of the pizza. He chewed normally and suddenly his eyes looked like they were going to pop out soon. Matt couldn't help but snigger quietly at him.

TK placed the plate down, stood up and ran as fast as he could to the kitchen where he opened the refrigerator and got a bottle of water out. He gulped it down like there was no tomorrow. Back at the living room Matt was having hard time breathing as he was laughing so much because of TK's behavior.

"God, Teeks, you should have seen your face."

He came back with another bottle in his hand while taking a couple of deep breaths.

"You," he pointed at him. "You did this – again!"

He raised his hands in surrender. "Hey it's not my fault that you can't eat spicy food."

He took a step toward the older blonde. He wanted to say something but he couldn't, as his tongue was still burning from the spices. The truth was he couldn't really eat spicy food even if it was just a little bite.

Matt raised a hand. "Relax. I only made them put the spices on the half of the pizza. How is it my fault that you took the wrong slice?"

TK shot him a glare and sat down with his own bottle of water beside him. He reached out to take another slice and made sure that he had gotten the right one this time.

Matt watched him while he as well took a slice of pizza to himself. He was going to miss spending time with TK. They continued to eat and talk with each other.

Two hours passed when Matt took a glance down at his watch and concluded that it was time for them to leave. They had already tidied up after themselves in the apartment.

Matt put his black leather jacket on where he placed his passport in the inside pocket of the jacket. He then got his guitar bag where he saw that TK had already taken his suitcase outside with him toward the car.

Tk came back and locked the house after him where they both climbed in the car and drove to the airport.

After half an hour they had finally reached the airport where TK parked the car at the parking lot. They got out and took the luggage out, Matt swung his guitar bag over his shoulder and took the trolley bag and headed inside.

They came inside where he met his band mates and the others waiting for him near the check in booth. "Look who we've got here?" Yutaka joked when he saw the two blondes coming toward them. They greeted them and asked if they had everything with them.

"When is the flight taking off?"

"In a few hours I think," they all nodded.

Akira took his suitcase and placed it on a luggage cart. "Well we should go and get us checked-in before it's too late." The others placed a couple of bags on it as well. They were about to leave and walk toward the check-in booth but Davis stopped them by a question.

The brunet looked up to the guys and pointed at the Matt's guitar bag, which was resting beside him on the floor. "Hey wait, aren't you suppose to give your luggage?"

Matt nodded. "I already did"

"But what about your guitar?"

Before he could reply, Takaishi interrupted him. "Davis, of course he's not going to give his beloved guitar to the cruel airport management! It's like his own baby, so of course he's going to make sure it's in one piece when he's going to land."

He looked around each member of the group who all had a slight smirk on their faces. "Seriously, have you guys ever seen me carrying my drum set with me all the time?"

They all shook their heads, "no."

Matt was the only one who had a slight frown on his face and rolled his eyes. "Of course you can't carry your drum set it's too big and heavy to carry around"

"Says the guy who carries his guitar everywhere with him."

"You can't compare these two things with each other – and by the way I don't carry it _all_ the time, only when I need it."

"Oh I need my bed to sleep in sometimes too maybe I should start carrying that with me from now on?"

The others couldn't help but laugh at his statement. Even Matt and Yutaka had a slight smirk on their faces. Suddenly silence filled the group as they looked at each other.

Akira and the guys decided that it was time for them to check-in and nodded at the others where they hugged them and said their goodbyes. They then took a brief look at Matt and decided to give the blonde a moment to say his goodbye to them. "Take your time." With that they took the luggage cart with them to get checked-in.

He looked at his friend's and smiled sadly at them. "So, I guess this is it." He hugged every member of the group and they all wished him the best in the future.

"Oh and remember to give Jason a call, he's a friend of my dad's and I'm sure he'll be able to help you guys with anything you need."

"Thanks Meems, I'll try to keep that in mind."

He smiled when he turned his attention towards his brother and gave him a hug. "Promise me that you'll take care of yourself while staying there." "Don't worry; I'm going to be fine, I promise." They let go of each other and smiled.

He then turned to Tai. Matt slipped his hands into his pockets. "So?"

"So.."

He decided to get over the formalities and raised a hand to him. Tai looked down at it and smirked as he took it and shook it. The blonde pulled him into a half hug as their shoulder clasped at each other. "Take care of Sora, Tai, and look out for TK." "Don't worry man, I will."

He moved to the very last person he had to say his goodbye to – Sora. He noticed that she had her head down where she kept her gaze on the floor. He took a glance around and joked with a smile on his face. "Well, I guess this is it."

Her head suddenly shot up. "Hey!"

He gave a laugh from himself. "Kidding Sor." They stood in front of each other with a soft expression on their faces. Here he was standing in front of the girl he had once developed feelings towards and he was leaving her for god knows how long.

"I'm going to miss you."

"Yeah me too Sor." He came forward and gave her a long hug, which caused her to smile but the same time she felt a couple of tears leak from her eyes.

He let go of her and noticed tears run down her face. "Hey, no tears, I told you." She quickly wiped them away. "I know I'm sorry." Tai wrapped an arm around her shoulder in a comfortable way.

Suddenly a voice rang through the intercom, which caused the friends to turn their attention toward it. "Flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles now boarding."

Matt turned around and saw his band mates carrying the flight tickets with them. He reached for his guitar bag and swung it over his shoulder. "Well, I better get going before Jun shows up and begs me to take her with me." He gave them all a final nod and walked toward the others.

"Take care, man."

"Remember to call us."

"Don't forget us when you get there."

"And don't worry bro we'll take care of your acoustic guitar while you're away."

He turned around and gave them one last glance. He raised his hand and waved at them. His eyes secretly traveled toward Tai and Sora. A slight smile formed on his lips as he really felt happy for them and that's what he was going to be in the future as well – happy.

Matt and his band had finally landed at the Los Angeles airport after spending many hours on the plane. They got their luggage and headed outside where their band manager stood waiting as he already had flown in a couple of days ago.

After meeting with him they got out to the parking lot where they drove toward the hotel where they were staying at.

They got settled into 2 rooms where Matt and Akira shared a room together and Yutaka and Takaishi were sharing another. They got into their rooms where they decided to get some rest as the long flight hours had made them very tired.

A few days later their manager had arranged a meeting with the music label where they could discuss a couple of things for the band. The whole reason they had come here was to make a new album for the band.

Matt however had already written a couple of songs which he wanted to show to his manager and get his opinion on them. Once he got the feedback on his songs they began to compose their next album. They were all working hard on their album and making sure that it was different from the last album they had released.

All their work before starting at the actual album had taken a lot of preparations. They wanted to create something unique and new which was never seen or heard before from them.

They were all at the recording studio where they were busy making a beat of the first song they were composing – which took a good amount of time.

One evening they were all gathered in Akira's room as they had planned to go out later on the evening. Matt came out from the bathroom and walked to the bed where he took his dark grey jacket on where everyone stood looking at him.

"Dude, where are you going?"

He looked at them where they were seated on the couch. "I'm talking a tour around the city."

"Now? We already planned that we were hitting the club later on?"

"Yeah Matt, we finally got a day off so why not take advantage of it"

He laughed a bit. "You guys go ahead. I'm just going to take a look around the place, alright"

Takaishi who had his feet on the table looked at the blonde with a raised eyebrow. "You do know people will recognize you, right?"

Matt smirked at him and walked toward his suitcase and pulled out a black hat and a pair of black sunglasses as well. He wore them and turned his attention toward the guys. "That's why I'll be wearing this."

He took his phone and he walked himself out. "Catch you guys later." He got out from the hotel room and took a look around and smiled at his surroundings. Ever since he had come here he hadn't got the chance to explore the city, as he was too caught up with the band.

He exhaled and walked himself through the busy streets of Los Angeles. There were a lot of people outside because of the warm weather and the fact that it was Los Angeles – _The city_ of America where thousands of people come to see what the city has to offer.

He silently hoped that no one would recognize him while he was taking a look around especially the paparazzi. He couldn't deal with them right now.

The blonde haired guy started with a walk through the city as he openly explored places he wanted to. He found a couple of shops on his way where he decided to take a look around and see what they had. He wasn't really into the mood of buying anything so he left the shops and continued with his sightseeing.

He was on his way toward a famous Museum of Art where he decided to take a look around inside. After almost spending 40 minutes inside he found himself taking a bus toward the famous beach of Los Angeles as he felt like he really needed to see it with his own eyes. He was really thankful of the fact that he had taken a map with him or else he would have easily been lost without it.

He finally reached the beach where he decided to sit at a small café where he could still have the view of beach in front of him. He ordered a cold soft drink alongside a chicken sandwich.

Half an hour later he finished eating and he decided to take a closer look at the beach. He smiled slightly of how beautiful the place looked – the sky was beginning to get different colored such as blue, red, orange and yellow. It was a beautiful sight and he thanked himself for bringing a camera with him to capture the moment. He snapped a couple of pictures and decided to move on to other places.

He sat down on the beach where he took a silent glance down at his watch and saw that it was 6:20 pm. He reached for the map and tried to find the nearest metro station so he could see other places. He found one that was a 20-minute walk from where he was and decided to head toward it.

He had finally reached the metro where his plan was to go to the downtown city of Los Angeles where he had been told that that it was a 'must see' attraction to discover. It was a short drive so he reached the place within 20 minutes. What he really wanted to explore was the Science Center which was located in downtown Los Angeles. A part of him couldn't help but give a quiet laugh from his lips as he wondered what his friends and band mates would think of him - spending his time at a Science Center instead of a fun filled night at the club. But it wasn't his fault that he found these things interesting. He always had an interest in the universe and how the scientists traveled up to space as he was the only one who had taken the astronomy classes at school.

He had spent a bit more than an hour at the Center and when he came out from the tall building he decided to take the metro where he could drive around the small cities which were located in LA.

He took a step inside the metro where he had found a place to sit. It was a good way for him to relax a bit but explore the city at the same time through the large windows beside him. He leaned back into the seat where he pulled out a small black book and a pen where he began to write a couple of things down. In other words he wrote a song.

He smiled as he began to write down words, which just came naturally to him at this point. Maybe taking the tour around the city wasn't that bad after all he thought to himself.

_Some fragrances  
drifted out from the wilderness of memories  
Some windows  
opened on knocking on the door of my memory  
Some old songs were kept near my bedside  
Some melodies were lost, got composed  
Signs of new life appeared  
The separated shores joined together._

_When rain of yours fell into my life,  
my roads became a river and began to flow  
You came and soothed me when I was tossing and turning,  
and my dreams began to stay within the bounds of sleep_

_The flame of my spirit fought the winds and lived again,  
The light drank up all my darkness  
As you laughed and asked me to smile._

_Some fragrances  
drifted out from the wilderness of memories  
Some windows  
opened on knocking on the door of my memory._

While writing in his small black book he took a small glance out at the passing trees and tall buildings. He wondered how the others were doing back in Japan. How was his brother? His friends? Were they missing him?

* * *

Meanwhile back in Tokyo, Japan everyone was quite busy with their lives. Some of the older Chosen had managed to buy their first house as they thought that it was about time to move out from their parent's houses and get their own place to live in. Tai had managed to get an apartment near his parents' house. Izzy and Mimi had gotten their own place as well and figured that they wanted to share a house where they both paid the rent of the house every month, as they were already dating for a very long time.

Sora however still lived with her mother. She wasn't quite ready to move out just yet. She had other things to worry about such as cleaning the house when she promised to meet up with Tai to help him to buy furniture for his new apartment. She had just gotten herself ready and walked downstairs to the living room to get her car keys. While searching for it her eyes caught something.

She saw a picture frame of her and the others that was placed on a shelf in the living room. It was taken a year ago when they were out celebrating her birthday at a restaurant. She couldn't help but smile at the picture as she picked it up and took a closer look. Everyone was smiling at the camera and having a great time together. She lightly ran a thumb on the glass frame as she missed those times they had. Now she rarely saw the others and not to mention Matt had left to go on a tour to America – Everyone was busy with their studies or having a part time job. She only spent time with her boyfriend, Tai but nevertheless she was happy that he still had time for her despite his busy schedule. She lightly shook her head and placed it back on the shelf where she took her car keys, which were lying beside it and decided to head toward Tai's new apartment.

A few months later Tai had decided to throw a small gathering at his new apartment. He had bought a black colored couch, a coffee table and a couple of other things he needed for the place. He had decorated elegantly with a little help from Sora but you could easily get the feeling that a guy was living in the apartment.

They had all turned up at his place and decided to hold a movie night for everyone. Therefore they had just finished watching The Hangover and decided to take a small break before moving on with the movies.

Despite them having a great time they were still missing a certain friend among them and hoped that the blonde was doing well with his band. Mimi was sitting beside Izzy who were sharing a blanket together, turned her attention toward the others. "Hey how about we call Matt and see how he's doing?."

"Yeah we should give him a call."

Tai ran a hand through his wild brown hair. "Yeah actually it's been a while since I've talked to him." Everyone looked slightly down since they hadn't really spoken to him for a quite a while as well.

Mimi however ignored their expression and took the phone and dialed Matt's number where she afterwards put it on loud speaker so everyone could hear him.

A couple of minutes passed away before he finally picked it up. "_Hello?_"

TK smirked and was the first one who spoke. "Hey bro, it's me. How are you doing?"

"_Hey TK. Long time no call. I'm actually doing fine what about you?_"

Mimi smiled and decided to speak. "Oh we're all doing great too, Matt"

"_Wait? Mimi? What are you doing there?_"

She laughed. "We're at Tai's place because he decided to throw a small gathering at his new apartment."

"_We? Am I on loudspeaker or something?_"

"Yo Matt, we're all here, every one of us."

They all said their hellos into the phone. "_Hey you guys. It's been a long time since I've talked to you all. How are you?_"

This time is was Sora who spoke into the phone. "We're all fine, Matt, don't worry about us"

Tai smirked and leaned forward where he had his arm around Sora's shoulder. "Yeah man, so tell us, how is your penthouse? Is it big, how's your view? Are you all living the _American dream_ over there?"

They could hear him laughing at Tai's question. "_My penthouse? I would call it a hotel room for now._"

"Yeah whatever, you'll live in one after a couple of months anyway"

Kari decided to interrupt her brother. "Shh, Tai. So tell us, Matt, how is it? Are you all enjoying your time over there?"

"_Yeah, it's great being here, but we're pretty much busy all the time making our new album and stuff. We're actually going to hold a concert for the first time here in a couple of months_."

Izzy was the one who spoke this time. "We wish we could have been there with you at your first concert in LA."

"_Yeah, but it's alright, I'm sure you'll be seeing it on the TV or something_"

"Yeah you're right. We really happy for you, but don't you dare go and forget about us, Ishida."

He chuckled softly. "_Don't worry guys. You're my friends; of course I'm not going to forget you. You all were the first ones to see us perform at Akira's garage house. Heh, if it wasn't for you guys, we wouldn't had come so far_"

"Aww.."

"We love you to bro"

Tai sat back into the couch with his arms crossed over his chest. "Hmph."

"_What was that?_"

"Don't mind it, Matt, it's just Tai. He's hasn't eaten anything for the last two hours and therefore he's being moody… And he's missing you, a lot but of course he wouldn't admit it"

"I do not!" The brown haired guy protested back.

"_Dude, I can hear you_."

Tai took the phone and turned off the loudspeaker and got it to his ear. He stood up and walked toward the other side of the room ignoring the others gazes on him.

"Okay, alright! I'm missing you Blondie. Only because I don't have anyone to talk to, and laugh with or someone to punch me when I don't see things clearly." He sighed. "I'm getting real bored here without you, man." Suddenly he heard a very loud sound coming from behind.

"AWWWW." He turned around where he saw all of his friends staring at him with a soft expression and had a big smile on their faces.

"_Did I just hear them.._"

"Yup! They're our friends alright."

He shook his head and put the phone on loudspeaker on again and headed back to the couch.

"_Hold on guys, I think the others are here_."

The others could hear someone come inside a room and a bit of talking could be heard as well.

"_Hey guys!_" They could Akira and the two other males' voices coming through the loudspeaker.

"Hey. How are you?"

"_We're fine, busy with the band but fine_."

They asked them how they were doing and asked them a couple of basic questions. Matt however left his band mates talking to the others as he needed to go to the bathroom.

"_Hey, did Matt tell you guys about his tour around the city?_" Yutaka spoke.

"No not at all. Why? What happened?"

"_Hah! Perfect! You guys should hear this. A few months ago we decided to go out and see what kind of night life they had here in LA. You know bars, and clubs and things like that. I mean we're been working hard for the past month so we needed to get a day off. So Mr. Rock star here wanted to explore the city rather than go clubbing with us._"

They others laughed a bit by the story Yutaka had told them. "Seriously? Man I would totally had gone out and see all the right club places to go to" Davis expressed his opinion.

"Yeah, totally agree with you Davis"

"_Guys you should hear the best part of the story._" He grinned and continued to tell. "_When he came back from the little tour of his, we actually found a couple of brochures about a Science Center which is located here in LA_"

Before he could continue with his story, he saw Matt come out from the bathroom. "_And – Oh here he comes_." Yutaka tried to suppress his grin all the best he could. The blonde haired guy returned looking at the three friends in front of him. "_So, what were you guys talking about?_"

"Oh nothing, we were just asking Yutaka how the recording was going"

"_Oh_"

The others tried to find a way to break the news of them actually hearing about his small tour. "So, what are your views on a Science Center, huh Matt?"

Matt looked at Yutaka and knew straight away that he was the one who had told them about his tour around the city.

Yutaka "_Uhm, I think it's time for me to leave. I'll talk to you guys later_" he yelled through the room. "_Yutaka I'm freaking going to kill you_" they could hear Matt's voice and a door being shut.

Everyone sat laughing at the conversation they could hear from the other line.

"_Now you guys know what we deal with every single day_" Takaishi joked.

"Alright guys we just wanted to see how you all were doing. We'll call later, 'kay?"

"_Yeah that's fine. Take care guys_"

"Good luck with your album and concert. We're sure it's going to be an awesome concert you guys are going to hold"

"_Thanks, we hope so_"

"Bye guys"

"_Bye_"

They hung up and leaned back into the couch and thought about their conversation they had with Matt and their friends. Davis smirked. "Science Center, huh? Who would have thought Matt would have any interest in those things"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much surprised, but happy that they're doing well"

"Yeah let's just hope they do well in future as well"

They all nodded and moved on to their next movie they were going to watch.

* * *

So.. What do you think so far? Tell me your thoughts! Would love to hear it from you all - Therefore remember to review, guys!

To Be Continued.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey Guys!

Ahh, I've finally got vacation which means I can relax and work on some stories I'm busy writing.

Anyway a huge thank you for the readers and who reviewed the previous chapter. It really warms the heart. Oh don't forget to let others know about this story. It would really help me to know what other Sorato fans think about it. ^^

Aklee -Thank you for your review. It makes me happy that you've enjoyed it. You need to read a couple of more chapters to find out if he even comes home or not? *Dramatic music* :D

Koumi-Loc - Thank you! :)

Aveza - I'm so glad to know that you enjoyed the Tai-Matt moment. Trust me, I had so much writing their friendship. I simply love these two! I think you're going to enjoy reading the upcoming chapters.. ;)

Pinkkoala213 - I love you, Sofi! Haha! I'm so glad to know that you've reviewed this story just like old times. I'm smiling like a idiot over here. Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm really happy that you liked the interaction. I was almost afraid to write Matt's band members as we haven't really seen much of them in the Series. Oh Keep reading and reviewing. :)

Uchihasaime - Awww, thank you so much for the kind words. I'm blushing over here. You really are the best!

Alright, on with the story - Enjoy folks!

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

9 months went by almost like a blur. Matt and his band mates had practiced hard with their manager and completed the new album. Therefore they had made a deal with the record label that they were going to perform for the first time in LA even though they had been here for almost a year now.

The guys had a couple of photo-shoots to attend for their upcoming album as they thought it was a good way to promote it. They had a busy schedule in the upcoming days with various interviews with different magazines and TV channels. Also they had to prepare themselves for their concert they were going to hold very soon.

After spending 3 hours completing the things they needed, they headed toward the big concert hall that was located in the heart of LA. Many artists throughout their careers had performed at the same stage where Matt and the band were performing in a couple of days. They were setting up their music equipment and making sure that everything was how it should be at the big day.

They were standing at the stage where the technical staff was making sure the lights, microphones and ear pieces were working fine. Matt's manager had only heard positive feedback coming from the concert hall and its staff. He was happy for the band and its success. They had deserved to be successful after all, they had been working hard throughout their years.

Matt was standing, strumming his guitar as he spoke to his band mates. "Do you guys know how many are going to turn up on Friday?"

Akira shrugged his shoulder. "I've heard that all the tickets are sold out which means there's a lot of fans who are going to be here." The blonde turned his attention back to his guitar. He looked up and saw that the whole concert hall was empty in front of him, and couldn't believe that they were going to perform at Los Angeles' biggest concert hall ever. He was excited.

"Alright boys. Let's hear you rehearse one last time before we call it a day." They all nodded at their manager and got their music equipment ready.

They began to sing a couple of songs from their first album they had released and build up the theme by singing songs they had composed throughout their career.

After 2 hours of rehearsing their band manager thought that they should rest before the actual concert that was going to be held in two days. He also made sure that everything was working fine from the music, voices, to the lights and coordination between the members.

"The concert is going to turn out a big success for you all. Now I suggest that you all go home and get some rest till the big day comes and trust me when I say it's going to be a big opportunity for you all."

They nodded and got off from the stage where they headed back to their hotel to rest a bit.

The big day finally arrived for The Wolves. Today they were going to perform at the concert hall in front of their American fans.

Their driver was driving them to the concert hall when Matt felt his phone vibrate through the pocket of his trousers. He got it out and saw that he had received a couple of messages from his friends. He read them silently.

'_Good luck, bro. We've crossed our fingers for you guys and the fact that you will do well tonight. Talk to you later_'.

'_Break a leg at the concert, you guys. We all are cheering for you here from Japan_'

'_Good luck, Matt! I hope you guys burn the stage tonight. We are all feeling bad that we're not there with you, but we are really looking forward to see the concert sometime soon_'.

Part of him felt touched by the fact that they had remembered that today was their concert. He made a mental note for himself that he had to call to thank them for writing to him.

They arrived at the arena, where they saw a huge crowd lining up to get inside for their concert. Several people had posters of the band and even had writing on them as well. Matt and the others got out from the car and made their way toward the main entrance and noticed the fans tried to get a glimpse of the band. They got security people around them to make sure that they were not overwhelmed by the many fans that stood around them begging them to touch or see them.

They all managed to come inside their dressing room where they could see from the TV which was attached to the wall that the concert hall was getting full of people. They then got themselves ready as they changed clothes where the makeup staff made sure as well that they looked good to go up to the stage.

Their manager came inside the room to inform them that everything was ready for them to enter the stage. "Alright guys it's time for you go on stage. And remember burn the roof down." They entered the stage where they could hear thousands of fans screaming and cheering for them.

They got to their positions where Takashi got to his drum set, Akira to his keyboard and both Yutaka and Matt walked in with his guitars hung around their shoulders.

They kicked started the concert with a thank you to all those who had showed up and began to sing their songs which they had been rehearsing for almost a year now.

Matt gave a small nod to his fellow band mates and started the music.

_You've got a boy, you've got a girl,  
Sitting' underneath a tree…_

Matt's concert had been a success. The Wolves were now known around both America and Japan. Even though his friends couldn't be there at the concert they still wanted to see how it went. And luckily it had been recorded by various companies, which both Izzy and Tai managed to find on the net even though it had been months since they held the concert.

They gathered at Mimi and Izzy's house one evening. They were all gathered in the house where Mimi and the girls had decorated the table with all kinds of snacks to eat while watching the concert. They were all pretty much excited to watch it.

Sora had just placed a couple of cans of soda and drinks on the table and couldn't help but express her feelings. "I can't wait to see his concert."

"Yeah me too, it's been a while we're been able to hear him sing." They all began to sit down in front of the large TV with blankets around them. Some were sitting on the couch and others were sitting on the floor with mattresses underneath them.

Izzy went over to his laptop which was placed just beside the TV as it was attached to one another. He pressed the play button and the TV screen began to move a sign of the fact that the DVD was now playing.

"Oh it's on"

"Yes, thank you so much for enlightening us, Einstein," Yolie joked lightly while sitting beside Ken.

They were showing the place before the concert started. There was a long queue outside the hall, where people were going inside with their tickets. They also showed when Matt and the band members arrived at the arena where thousands of people wanted to get an autograph from the famous band. They however got inside where they were getting ready to go up stage.

The stage was huge and professionally decorated with spotlights on the ceiling. There was a big screen attached above the stage where they showed a The Wolves' journey throughout the years – how many albums they had sold out, where they had performed before, interviews etc. Every artist was shown how they were rehearsing backstage and how their chemistry was with the other members. Finally a group picture of them all came into view where they were standing beside each other wearing leather jackets.

That was the cue for them to go on stage and when the band finally came into view the large crowd was sent into a frenzy of excitement. The guys were dressed in black shirts and only made the crowd scream louder.

"Wow, they are looking quite nice."

"Yeah men always look good in dress shirts" Mimi winked at Sora who both laughed a bit.

"Come on, where do you girls think they got the good looks from?" Tai raised a proud eyebrow at them – clearly referring, himself for the credit.

"Shh, you guys something is happening." They all turned their attention toward the large screen in front of them.

They camera took a look around the crowd which was yelling and cheering for the band. Some of them even had big signs of 'Marry me Matt', 'Yutaka you're hot', 'Best band ever' etc.

"Wow, look at that"

"The whole hall is full of people"

"Wow, Matt sure got a lot of fans in LA"

The band took their position and began to sing. While they were singing two large screens behind them where showing photo shoot pictures of them, while on the other they were showing them performing on the bigger screen. The place was huge and had lights coming out all over the place so the band got full attention from their fans. They also noticed that Matt and the others kept moving alongside to the music in a way creating a performance for their loyal fans.

They were enjoying watching their friend's concert and after watching two hours of the show they took a small break. They ate a little and returned back to the screen where they saw the last performance of the show.

Matt scanned the crowd before him. He and the band mates had just finished singing a couple of songs from their newly made album and it was now turn for their last song for tonight's show. He gripped the microphone tighter and spoke loud enough so they could hear him despite their screaming. "Wow! Are you guys having fun?." The crowd yelled and roared through the concert hall.

He smirked and yelled again. "I can't hear you?"

The huge crowd roared again and screamed to show their support.

Matt laughed as he spoke again. "Alright, we have now come down to our last song for tonight. It's called 'What About Now'. I hope you guys enjoy it." He then gave a small nod to his band mates, where Akira – the keyboard player started the music.

Matt closed his eyes as he could hear the piano being played in the background and began to sing. The whole stage was lit up in a blue colour with different spotlights around them.

_Shadows fill an empty heart as love is fading  
From all the things that we are but are not saying  
Can we see beyond the scars  
And make it to the dawn?_

Soon enough Takashi – the drummer and Yutaka – the bass player started to pick up the music. He even joined them by playing his own guitar as well.

_Change the colors of the sky  
And open up to the ways you made me feel alive  
The ways I loved you, for all the things that never died  
To make it through the night love will find you_

The music started to speed up a bit as they all sang along. He looked around the concert hall where he softly sang the last line of the chorus.

_What about now? What about today?  
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?  
What if our love never went away?  
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?  
Baby, before it's too late, what about now?_

His thoughts couldn't help but drift to Sora and how she had made him feel when he was in Japan. He silently wished that she enjoyed her life as it was.

_The sun is breaking in your eyes to start a new day  
This broken heart can still survive with a touch of your grace  
Shadows fade into the light  
I am by your side where love will find you_

_What about now? What about today?  
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?  
What if our love never went away?  
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?  
Baby, before it's too late, what about now?_

He began to sing through the microphone with the music getting louder and louder as they played all they could.

_Now that we're here  
Now that we've come this far, just hold on  
There is nothing to fear, for I am right beside you  
For all my life, I am yours_

The music started to fade out as the only thing you could hear at the concert hall was the keyboard being played. Matt closed his eyes as he softly spoke the lyrics of his song. Soon enough he played the notes of his guitar solo, building up the tone of the music that the others quickly caught.

_What about now? What about today?  
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?  
What if our love never went away?  
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?_

_What about now? What about today?  
What if you're making me all that I was meant to be?  
What if our love never went away?  
What if it's lost behind words we could never find?_

_Baby, before it's too late  
Baby, before it's too late  
Baby, before it's too late_

The blond lead singer closed his eyes in attempt to take a deep breath before he softly spoke out the three words, which were full of emotions and thoughts.

_What about now?_

He slowly opened his eyes and saw that the crowd got wild with screams. He smiled at the audience. "Thank you so much for being here and welcoming us with open arms. You're been a fantastic crowd! Have a good night, guys and enjoy yourselves."

The guys bowed and waved their goodbyes and walked out the stage.

Everyone sitting in the living room had enjoyed watching the concert.

"Are you guys up for calling Matt?"

"Of course" Tai reached out for the phone and dialed his best friend's phone number. They put it on loudspeaker and waited for him to pick up. "_Hello_" a tired voice came through the speaker.

"Hey Blondie"

He recognized the voice straight away. "_Last time I checked my name was Matt_."

The brown haired guy smirked at his comment. "Yeah whatever, what are you doing?"

"_I'm just relaxing a bit and I'm guessing that everyone else is here and I'm on loudspeaker again?_"

"You got that right, Ishida"

"_I thought so. Tell me how are you guys?_"

"We're fine. We're actually missing you a lot here." TK took a look at the others. "By the way bro, you totally owned your concert."

"Yeah Matt, you were awesome."

"We really liked the song you wrote, it had beautiful lyrics in it"

"_Wow, thanks guys, I'm glad you guys enjoyed watching it._"

"So, where are the others?"

"_They are out. They wanted to try out the clubs and bars again_"

"Man, what are you doing here? You should be out there enjoying yourself – getting to know the girls there, if you know what I mean."

"Tai!"

Matt laughed as he could hear Sora slapping him on the arm. "_Nah, I'm just going to relax a bit. The concert sure took a lot of energy from me._"

"Yeah we can only imagine how hard it must be for you."

"Well, we shouldn't disturb you then, we'll just call some other time"

"Take care Matt"

"_Thanks guys. I appreciate it, bye._"

"Bye."

* * *

To Be Continued.

The song I used is "_What about now_" by Westlife. Oh and please to remember to review. I would love to hear what you guys thought about the chapter. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Hey :)

It makes me so happy that you guys have reviewed the previous chapter. You have no idea how much it means to me or how I feel whenever I read them. So thank you so much for being kind.

Aleena1 – Oh you're from PK? Log on so we can talk. Haha! But thank you so much for the encouraging words. Especially that you mentioned my perviouse fic. It made me happy to know that you enjoyed it. Keep on reading thos one, because I'm sure you're going to like it - and hopefully it won't dissapoint you.

Koumi-Loc – Once again, thank you so much for the review. I think you're going to like this chapter ;).

Pinkkoala213 – I know right? Men always look good in dress shirts. It's just a true fact. And I just had to use that song in the chapter. I'm a huge fan of Westlife and I could really see Matt singing their songs.

misaki92 – Yay, a new reviewer! Thank you for the sweet words. Oh, you're not the only one who would be a huge fan of the Wolves if they were real. Keep reading the story because I'm sure you're going to like it. :)

Anyway! Enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

* * *

**_Chapter 4_ **

Slowly time went by. Everyone went back to being busy with their own lives. Life in America was being hectic as well, they had already released their new album over a year ago – and they had gotten what they wanted by traveling abroad. They had spent two years staying out of Japan and somehow missed their hometown.

Back in Japan the older Chosen had started at their respective Universities as the one year off they all had taken was long gone. The younger Chosen were still in high school all in their last year.

Tai had majored in Political Science and had subjects such as economics, foreign policy, international law and history and public administration.

Sora studied art at the Science of Art University, so she could become a fashion designer. She was studying the following subjects, fashion illustration, clothing construction, and fashion history and production technique.

Mimi wanted to become a chef as she always had a passion of making different kinds of food. She was therefore busy with studying to take a Culinary Art Degree.

Izzy decided to major in Computer Science and Information Technology. Everyone knew that it was the right course he had picked for himself as he had always had a passion toward the technical stuff and the fact that he had the crest of Knowledge.

And Matt? Well, he had decided to study at a University in Los Angeles for the past year as he felt like that he needed to study alongside with taking care of the band. He was studying Engineering to become an astronaut.

The truth was that for the past year the band felt like they wanted to do something else with their lives than continuing singing and performing. They therefore decided to take a break from music. They had all worked hard throughout the years and decided to move on with their respective lives. They had after all been working for 7 years and sold out millions of records.

Akira wanted to study Art, as he had always been the creative one in the band. Yutaka wanted to study other cultures and get an international perspective to it as well. Takashi wanted to study economics as math had always been his strong side throughout their high school years. All these studies were different from the line, music, because every member on the band was different from another and had their own personalities.

This resulted in a decision to return home. The band had already talked with their band manager. He had of course expressed that he wanted them to continue with their music careers, but their hearts just wasn't with it anymore.

Matt and the others had decided to travel home within a month. They had already booked their flight and were almost ready to travel home.

He had already informed TK about them coming home and he couldn't help but express how happy he was seeing his brother after such a long time.

TK was on his way to High School but he had to pick up Kari on the way. He pulled the car up in front of her house where she smiled at her boyfriend and climbed inside.

She noticed something different with TK, as he was smiling a lot more than he usually did. "What's wrong, you seem a lot happier than usual?"

He shifted the gear of his car and nodded. "Yeah, and I've got a good reason for being this happy" he paused where he took a quick glance at her. "Matt's coming back home next week."

She was pleasantly surprised, "What, really? That's so great, TK."

"Yeah, remember the house Matt brought before he went to America where a young couple is living in now? Well, they are going to leave it as they had found a place on their own, so they'll be more likely out within a week."

"Oh that's great."

TK parked the car at the parking lot just outside the school. They got out and walked toward the class they had to attend together.

"You know what? We should throw a surprise party for him. I mean it's been two years he had been gone, and I'm sure he'll be happy by the gesture"

"That's great idea, Kari." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smirked. "How on earth did I get such a smart girlfriend like you?"

She rolled her eyes and leaned back into his embrace. "You just seem to be lucky." she joked lightly. Soon enough they reached their class.

The news quickly went around among the friends and they started to plan out the surprise party for their blonde friend.

Mimi was sitting with Izzy at a café where they were discussing about the surprise party. Mimi reached out for her phone and sent a message out to everyone. '_Alright folks, this is the plan for Matt's coming-home-surprise-party. We were thinking…_'

Today was the day where the bearer of the crest of Friendship was coming home to Japan. Everyone was gathered at Matt's house to decorate for his welcome home party. The girls were busy making food for later on in the evening and the guys were making the house colorful with balloons and banners hanging around. TK took a small glance down at his watch and thought that it was time to head toward the airport to pick up his brother. He walked to the couch where he took his black jacket and put it on. "Hey guys I'm going out to pick up Matt from the airport, his flight is going to land soon."

"Alright, text us when the both of you are on your way home."

"Will do," with that he walked himself out to the car and drove toward the airport.

"It's going to be great to see him again"

"I wonder how much he's changed over the past couple of years."

Kari smiled and thought about her boyfriend and how happy he had been for the past few days. "TK was so happy to know that he was coming back home, his whole face lit up." Tai walked toward her and slipped an arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, I guess he just missed his big brother." She gave him a warm smile and leaned into his embrace.

"Which reminds us…" Mimi looked at Sora where they both exchanged a look and walked up to each side of him. Mimi smirked while looking at Tai. "How does it feel to know that your best friend is coming home?"

He ran a hand through his wild hair. "It feels great I guess."

Sora smirked and had her eyes fixed on the brown haired guy. "Did you miss him while he was away?" Tai turned to the other side and answered her. "Yeah of course I did." He looked to both sides and had a suspicious look on his face. "What are you girls up to?"

"Oh nothing, nothing at all." Sora walked up to Mimi and they both had grins on their faces.

Tai furrowed his brow at them. "What, what is it?"

"Are you sure you're dating the right girl, Tai?"

"What?" He couldn't understand what they were saying – but suddenly it clicked in his head. The two girls left with a satisfied smile on both faces.

Meanwhile at the airport:

Matt and the other band members had just come out from their long flight and headed to the conveyor belts to get their luggage. After spending 20 minutes trying to find their luggage they headed outside the airport where they saw the younger blonde waiting for them to arrive.

The two brothers caught each other's gazes and couldn't help but smile as they both walked up and gave each other a long hug.

"It's good to see you, Matt."

"You too Teeks. You too." He took a look at his younger brother. "And you've changed – you look older."

"You mean more handsome, right?" he grinned. TK then turned his attention toward the others and asked how their flight was.

They then moved to the parking lot where TK had parked his car. "Hey you guys need a ride? There's plenty of space."

"No thanks, TK. My uncle is here somewhere to pick us up and if I know him well enough he probably brought a big van with him where there's enough space for the half population of Japan." They laughed at Takashi's statement.

And his uncle did bring a van with him. Takashi turned to face the two blondes. "I told you. We'll catch you two later."

"Yeah later." They walked toward TK's car where they put his luggage in the car alongside his guitar.

They both climbed in and drove out from the parking lot and headed toward Matt's apartment.

"So, how are mom and dad?"

"They fine. Mom's at another town to cover a story and dad is in a meeting in Kyoto"

"Yeah I've received a message from him earlier, welcoming me home."

He grinned at the statement. "Yeah, that sounds like dad."

Silence filled the car. Matt was too busy looking out at the passing buildings. He had missed being back in Japan and exploring its surroundings.

TK however reached out for his phone, making sure that Matt didn't notice him – but he did. "TK, your brother had just come home after spending 2 years abroad and you're already texting Kari?"

"I am not texting Kari! There's something wrong with my phone, so I'm just setting a couple of things right." He continued to drive.

Back at Matt's apartment:

"Guys I've just received a text from TK that he's on his way with Matt. They'll be here in 10 minutes." Kari came walking in the living room holding her cell phone in her hand.

Tai stood up from his chair and took a look around. "Okay guys we need to get ready then." He then walked himself toward the window where he quickly turned off the light and got away from the window.

"Quick, everyone get in your positions. Hide!" Everyone did as Tai told them as they all begin to hide around the apartment which kind of set of a commotion since it was quite dark.

"Ouch Davis, that's my leg." Sora hissed.

"Sorry."

"Shh, you guys"

TK pulled the car up in front of the garage and they both got out. Matt shook his head lightly when he saw that the light was turned off in the house, but he already knew why as his father was not home. They walked up to the front door where TK had a small smile on his face and began to unlock the door. "You know, it sure feels weird to come home to an empty apartment especially when you've been away for such a long time." They came inside the hallway where Matt reached out to turn on the light and when he had turned it on, he almost got a heart attack.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone jumped up in the air and welcomed him home with a smile on their faces.

"What the?" He looked around and got surprised.

Tai grinned at the expression his best friend had on his face. "What's wrong, dude? Too stunned?"

"Uh yeah, pretty much. First of all what are you all doing here?" he turned around and he pointed at TK. "I take it you knew about this?"

"Of course I knew, how else do you think the plan worked?"

"Wow! I can't believe you guys did this for me", he took a look around where he saw balloons and big banners of 'welcome home' were plastered on the wall.

"Well you better start believing it, Ishida." Mimi said with a smile on her face. "And hey, aren't you supposed to say hi to us?"

"You're right, I'm sorry." He laughed and went up to her and gave her a hug. He gave each member a hug and expressed how happy he was of finally coming home.

His eyes then turned to the very last member – a girl with auburn hair and bright ruby colored eyes. Sora. He couldn't help but smile at her and thought how much he actually missed her.

She was looking beautiful as always but she had changed over the years – she looked more mature and stunning.

She tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear and walked up to him. "Welcome home, Matt." She smiled and hugged him where he placed his hand behind her back and hugged her back. "It's good to be back." He let her go and watched her go inside the kitchen with the other girls.

His first glance at the auburn haired girl had done something to him. She made him think. Did his old feelings somehow come back to him? His feelings toward Sora? But no, she was dating Tai. It was wrong of him thinking like that about her now. He dismissed the thought and turned his attention toward the others.

"Come on now, we've made food and we have already set the table."

"Ah thank god for food. I haven't eaten anything since we took off this morning."

"Aww, you poor baby."

"So tell us how your trip was over there?"

Matt placed some salad and pasta on his plate and handed the bowl of potatoes forward to Ken. "Well, it's been a great experience for all of us as a band. We've earned a lot from the concerts and the albums we've sold out. But we somehow wanted to move on from the music department and into something else."

"Is that why you guys decided to split up?"

He nodded and he took a bite of his pasta. "Yeah. I mean sure there was a future for us making albums after albums, but we wanted more than just that."

"We understand. So what are your plans for now? Are you going to study?"

"Have you taken any courses or applied for different universities?"

Matt hadn't really told anyone that he had already finished one year of studying just like them. "Yeah. I actually started at a Science University in Los Angeles."

Davis interrupted with a small laugh. "Is it here where we'll be hearing about the Science Center?" He joked lightly which caused the others to smile.

"I'm taking a degree in Engineering so I've already transferred all my subjects here so after the summer vacation I'll be attending Tokyo University." he paused. "I'm studying to become an astronaut."

The others looked at him in awe. "What?"

"You serious?"

He leaned back into his chair and reached out for his soda. "Yes I mean why not try it out? Travel up to space and all that." He paused slightly to read their reaction. "I'm even thinking on joining the Air Self-Defense Force afterwards to become a test pilot."

"The Military?"

"But isn't it a bit risky? Being a pilot and all"

Matt smirked. "We've taken some big risks when it came to protecting the Digital World. I don't think it's going to stop me from exploring this to another level"

They all nodded and understood his passion toward the aerospace. "It's going to take years; you do know that right?" Izzy said as he looked at his friend.

"I know, but it's going to be worth it. I know it will"

Davis smirked lightly as he spoke. "Who would have thought that Matt Ishida would turn out to be such a smart guy?" Matt glared at Davis in a light manner.

"It's like finding out that Mimi's going to be a Chef."

The brown haired girl glared daggers at the younger guy in front of her. "Be careful Davis, I may have put poison in your food."

Davis stood still in his position and looked down at his plate. Mimi smirked by seeing the effect she had on him.

"Come on Mimi, let him eat. Davis there's nothing in the food." Sora said with a soft voice looking at Davis.

"How about a toast for Matt's coming home."

They all raised their drinks and looked at each other. Tai was the one who spoke. "To Matt who returned home knowing well enough that he just couldn't live without his handsome and good looking best friend."

Matt rolled his eyes.

"To Matt." They all took a sip from their drink their drink and continued to talk and eat in each other's company enjoying themselves.

* * *

So... Matt finally came home from America. ;)

I know it's a short chapter, but I'm sure your going to like the next one I'll post because of reasons... (not going to spoil it for you guys, so stay tuned! ^^)

And remember to review like always :)


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys :) So sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, I've been so busy with things at home. But nevertheless, I'm here with a brand new chapter. Hope you'll like it *Wink*

Koumi-Loc: Thank you so much! I hope I don't let you down. Well, keep reading the story, I'm sure you're going to like the Koumi hints ;)

BlueLightSky: Thank you! I hope you would like this chapter and I've tried to keep it longer this time just for you.

Aleena1: Awww, thank you so much! You really made my day when I read your kind words. Keep them coming, hehe.. Actually my plan was that all three of them would go to three different universities. Especially the fact that Sora would choose a Designer institute and both Tai and Matt would most likely go to Tokyo Univeristy but different places (like campus) Hope that helps. I'm glad to know that you're enjoyingthe friendship between Matt and Tai – it's something I've used a lot of time to develop. So thank you so much for being here and reading my story! I hope you'll enjoy this one.

5: Thank you so much hun' ^^

Pinkkoala213: I'm so glad to know that you liked the line on Mimi :D I just had to use it. And of course I had to include Davis and Tai and their humor.

A huge thank you for those who read and reviewed it so far. You guys are the best! So keep the reviews coming because it is the only way that makes me go on with the story ^^

By the way I've used a song in this chapter, called "_Glass_" by Thompson Square/Ross Copperman - I really suggest you to go and listen to it, because it's a really beautiful song.

Anyway on with the story! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

* * *

_**Chapter 5**_

Matt continued with his busy life with studying Physical Science at the University alongside the others. The good thing about universities was the fact that you didn't need to attend it every day. Matt was really grateful for that, because he still needed to collect his things from his father's place where he was currently living. He didn't have the chance to see the house he had bought when he came back. Therefore within a couple of weeks he decided to go and check the house and how it looked inside after the couple had rented it.

He parked the car outside and climbed out and got to the front door. He unlocked it and came inside where he saw, to his surprise, that everything was as it should have been. It looked nice especially when the furniture was exactly as he had left it two years back.

He looked around the house where he noticed that the walls needed painting and the fact that he needed to move things around so it looked more presentable. He wrote a couple of things down which he needed to buy such as a couple of liters of paint, a new coffee table and a dining table, a couple of shelves and a bookcase.

After spending half an hour inside he took off from there to buy all these things. He climbed into his car and drove toward the furniture shop that was located downtown Odaiba.

He was driving in silence when his eyes caught a figure just outside a flower shop. It wasn't just any flower shop, but it was Sora's mother's flower shop. He saw Sora come out from the shop with a handbag resting on her hand while she walked toward the bus station. He decided to make U-turn and pulled the car right where the bus station was, waiting for her to walk by him.

She was lost in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Matt's car right beside her. Matt rolled his window down. "Hey Sora."

She turned to look at the side where she met him with a smile on her lips. "Matt? Hi, what are you doing here?"

"I was just driving by when I saw you here." He took a look ahead of him. "Need a ride?"

She shook her head lightly. "No thank you, Matt. You really don't have to. I'll just take the bus."

"It's okay, Sora. I can drop you off at your house."

She took a glance around as saw that the bus was heading to bus station where Matt had pulled over. She looked back at him and couldn't help but smile and got to the other side of the car where she got inside.

"Tell me you're not stalking me Matt," she joked when he started the engine and began to drive. He had his hand on the steering wheel and the other he got up to his chest. "Damn, you got me, Sor." They both laughed.

"So, were you going somewhere?" she asked him. "I was just on my way to the furniture shop to buy a couple of things for the house I'm about to move into." "Oh, I still remember when I needed to help Tai with buying stuff, and trust me it was getting hectic."

"Yeah I can imagine chaos when he's around." His thoughts then went to her and Tai. He never got a chance to talk to her about how it was going with them. "Hey want to stop for a coffee at a café near here? I didn't get a chance to talk to you that night when you guys held the surprise party." He silently waited for her answer. "Sure, I don't mind. I don't have anything particular to come home to, so why not."

"Great, I think there's a shop here somewhere." he took a look around while driving. This caused Sora to laugh, but she pointed at a direction for him. "Drive down there and then take a left, there's a really good café down there." He gave a quick look where she simply smirked at him and placed a hand on his arm. "Welcome home Mr. Rock star." He made the turn and parked down the road.

They both got inside the café where they ordered two light coffees and found a table near the window to sit at. Matt studied Sora for some time before he decided to ask her something. "So, how are things going on between you and Tai? I'm sure it going fine?"

She kept silence for a couple of minutes as she kept on starring at her handbag which was resting on the table in front of her.

"Sora?"

She came out from her thoughts and looked down at the table at her handbag. "Tai and me are not together anymore, Matt." This sent Matt into a shock. "What? Why? What happened?"

She looked up into his eyes. "It just didn't work between us, uhm you want to eat something?" she tried to change the topic but Matt saw right through her. "Hey don't change the topic, really Sora, what happened between you guys?"

In the meantime the waiter had placed down their coffee and left.

"We broke up one year and half ago I mean there was nothing but friendship between us. It's been a long time, and besides we've managed to put it behind us. We even joke about it today which is why we have been able to maintain our friendship for so long."

His expression softened a bit while he listened to her story. "I'm sorry to hear that. I really am." He genuinely was. He didn't expect to hear this kind of news when he had come back.

She smiled and shook her head lightly. "Don't be. He's happy with Catherine whom he's currently dating."

"Who is she?" as he took a small sip from his coffee.

"Oh you know her. Remember Catherine from our high school years. The one with blonde hair, she attended another class. He nodded. "Well, they met one year ago and from there they started to date each other. She's really nice and we've had many outings with her."

A smile formed on his lips. "That's good. I'm happy for him."

"Yeah, I mean it's still Tai. He really deserves to be with someone who loves him too." He nodded in agreement. "But what about you?" She placed her coffee down on the table. "I'm happy in the position I am right now. I really hadn't given anything else a thought lately."

Sora took a sip from her coffee and held in in her hands. "What about you? I'm sure many girls would have thrown themselves at you." a playful smile appeared on her lips.

He leaned back and rested his arm on the chair while wearing a proud smile on his face. "Yeah well, what can I say? I just have that effect on women."

She raised her eyebrow at him and gave a small chuckle. "Hmm, yeah sure, but all jokes aside, didn't you find anyone while staying there?"

He shook his head. "The problem is that they only wanted the lead singer of The Wolves and not the real Matt Ishida." he paused trying to find a way to explain to her what he meant.

She sat there quietly and studied his features. He had changed over the past years just like everybody else. He wasn't the shy boy she once knew, no far from it. He had changed quite a bit – both personally and physically. His deep blue eyes were sparkling alongside his pale smooth skin and his slightly cut short blonde hair. She had to admit that he had gotten more handsome over the years. She actually understood why the girls had always thrown themselves at him – before she could continue with her thoughts a voice snapped her back to reality.

"I don't want them to love me for how I look or how I sing, but for me. I don't know if it makes sense to you?"

She smiled at his direction. "I know what you mean. I understand."

The continued to talk with each other when Sora took a sip from the coffee.

"What about we call the others and let them know that we're out? They may want to join us?"

"Sure, try to give them a call." She got up and told him that she needed to go to the restroom for a while. She left him reaching out for his cell and began to call around to ask them if they were free to accompany them for a couple of hours.

Sora returned back to the table where she met his eyes. He shook his head. "No one is coming. They ditched us." They then continued to sit at the café for some time where they decided to head home. They got their jackets and walked up to the counter so they could pay for their coffee.

They were greeted by a man behind the counter and told them how much their bill was. Sora reached out for her purse inside of her bag, but Matt had already gotten his credit card out from his wallet and paid for the two coffees.

Sora looked at him and protested. "Matt, what are you doing? You don't have to pay for mine."

"I got this, Sor." He pulled his credit card back into his wallet where the man handed him the receipt. Matt nodded his thanks and left the café.

They were walking to his car when Sora looked at him. "You really didn't need to pay for my coffee, Matt"

"Did you really think that I was going to let you pay?" He opened the car door. "Sora, I'm a gentleman, so therefore I'm always going to pay for the meals we eat together." They got in where they both closed the both car door behind them. Sora couldn't help but joke. "Are you insinuating that we'll be going out more at cafés in the near future?"

He smirked at her and started the engine. Was she flirting with him? "Maybe I am Sor." With that he drove toward her house so he could drop her home.

* * *

Matt woke up early one morning. He was casually dressed into grey sweatpants and a black shirt. It was a weekend, which meant that he could finish up making his new place suitable and presentable. He had already bought liters of paint, which was placed in the garage, as he needed to paint the walls of the inside of the house. He had also placed all of his old furniture in boxes in the garage so he could get plenty of space to decorate the house as he wanted to. He was about to get his paint equipment out from the garage when he heard his phone ring which was placed on the kitchen shelf.

He took a glance down of who the caller ID was and smirked when he picked it up. "Hey Tai."

"_Hey man long time no see._" Matt heard his best friend's voice coming through the phone.

"I know, but I've just been busy with stuff."

"_I know, listen I was just wondering if you wanted to go and catch a movie or something?_"

"I can't, I'm going to paint the house today and move a couple of things around. Sorry"

"_It's alright. I'll just try to call the others then, but give me a call if you need any help, 'kay?_"

"Thanks will do. Catch ya later"

He ended the call and turned his attention toward the living room. First of all he needed to cover up the furniture in the living room with some cloth. He had even put plastic around the floor so it won't ruin the cream colored carpet. When he had done that he started to move all the furniture in the middle of the room so they won't touch the walls.

He then got all his paint equipment out from the garage where he one by one placed them in the living room. He took off his shirt, which only left him wearing the loose sweatpants and a white colored wife beater.

He finally began to paint the walls with the long roller sliding up and down the walls. He even had a couple of paintbrushes beside him in case he needed them.

He was busy painting when he suddenly heard a knock from the front door. He placed the roller down and went over to the door to see who it was. He opened it and saw, to his surprise, Sora standing outside wearing a black tank top and a couple of denim shorts. She looked up where she met him and noticed what he was wearing which stunned her.

He was wearing a white wife beater – where every muscle was visible before her. In other words he was looking _good_.

Matt stood with a questioning expression on his face. "Hey Sor, what are you doing here?"

It took a couple of moments before she finally found her voice. "Huh?… Oh h-hi Matt, I was just passing by and thought to see what you were doing." She then noticed that he had a couple of paint marks on his hands and trousers.

"Are you painting?"

"Yeah I actually am. I thought to refresh the inside of the house a bit, now that I've got the time." He moved to the side where he let her come inside. She took a glance around the living room. "Do you need any help?"

"Nah, I think I got this."

"Really Matt, I'm not doing anything special right now."

"You sure? I don't want your clothes to get ruined or anything"

She gave him one of her famous warm smiles. "Positive Matt."

"Alright. Let me at least give you some clothes you can wear." He guided her into his room where he took a black t-shirt out from his drawer and handed it to her. He then left her so she could change.

10 minutes later she returned to the living room where she stood watching him from the doorway and noticed that he had placed a couple of soda cans on the table. She came forward when he turned around and met her with a smile. He saw that the t-shirt he had given her was too big for her and went just above her knees. He tried to shake the thought of how beautiful she was looking wearing _his_ shirt. It looked good on her.

Matt reached out for the roller. "You want to paint high or low?" Sora was pulling her hair up into a small bun as she looked at him. "Uh, low is fine." He handed her a paintbrush and they began to paint the walls.

5 hours went by where they had managed to paint all the walls in the living room. Throughout their painting they had managed to have a great time together with a mix of hard work, breaks and laughter. Sora however couldn't keep her eyes from starring at her blonde friend. She couldn't help but look at him at the corner of her eye especially how his muscles moved every time he slid the roller up and down the walls. The thought made her blush heavily a couple of times but she tried her best not to show it in front of him. She didn't even know why she was acting like this. What made her suddenly think these thoughts about Matt?

They managed to finish up their work and they both collapsed at the couch in the middle of the room.

"Wow that was fun," Sora leaned her head back into the couch and closed her eyes.

He ran a hand through his hair. "And hard."

She laughed a bit. "Yeah _that_ it was"

Matt took a small glance at her. "You didn't need to help me you know."

"I wanted to. It was fun, besides it was better than sit at home and do nothing."

Suddenly an idea had struck into Matt's head, as he heard the word, _fun_. An evil smirk appeared on her face and stood up from the couch. He reached for the small paintbrush where he lightly dipped it into the paint and walked toward her.

Sora opened her eyes and saw him walking toward her where she furrowed her eyebrows in suspicion. "What are you doing?"

He looked at her with an innocent smile on his face and took the paintbrush where he stroked it across her leg and arm. "What are you -Hey."

"Oh, I'm sorry I don't think I saw your leg or arm" he then pained a streak on her cheek. "Or your cheek." Sora was too stunned by his action and tried to wipe the paint off her body. "Hey Stop." He never stopped as a grin escaped his lips.

Sora then decided to take her revenge by reaching out for her own paintbrush. "Oh you're going down Ishida." She chased him around the house but careful enough not to touch the new painted walls. She only succeeded in touching his bare arm and that was it.

She got frustrated and collapsed yet again on the couch. "Ugh, forget it." He sat at the opposite of her with a proud smirk on his face where after he took a deep breath in attempt to calm himself. They both continued to sit there in silence when Matt broke it. "Hey, you hungry?"

"Yeah a bit actually."

"Alright then, why don't you go and take a shower and afterwards we'll go out for a quick bite? Besides I think if we stay any longer here we'll pass out from the smell of paint."

She nodded. "Sounds like a good plan."

"Of course it is" he winked at her. "Let me show you the bathroom and where the towel is." He guided her to the bathroom where he gave her a towel. She smiled at him and closed the door where she could take a shower. She placed her clothes on the hanger on the door and turned her attention to the large mirror in front of her. She could see all the white steaks on her cheek and arm. A smile formed on her lips as she thought about the few hours she had spent painting with him.

It was the first time she had come to his new house and she had to admit – she liked it. It was designed beautifully. He however had yet to decorate it as he wanted to.

She then began to shower. After 20 minutes she was fully dressed into her shorts and tank top. She came out and found him wrapping all the paint equipment and placed it on one side of the room.

He had moved it and turned around where he saw her standing on the doorway with her towel on her arm. "I can see that you're finished taking a shower."

"Really? I wasn't even finished yet. I just love to randomly walk in here with my hair wet and fully dressed. Yeah I just love doing that."

He rolled his eyes. "Just wait here while I take a shower. I'll be out in 10 minutes."

She laughed. "Oh I'm not going anywhere." He walked passed her into the bathroom.

Within 10 minutes he had come out wearing blue jeans and a light blue shirt. He came into the living room where he grabbed his car keys. "Ready to go?"

She nodded and got up from the couch and walked out of the house just behind him. He locked the front door and got into the car where they drove toward the local Chinese take-out. They ordered their meal and sat down in the car. He started the engine and got an idea. He drove on the road where Sora noticed that they were going the wrong direction. "Matt you're driving toward the wrong direction."

He smiled. "I know."

"Where are we going?"

He took a quick glance at her. "You'll see." he drove a bit and turned around the block when Sora's eyes widened. She looked at him with a questioning expression on her face. He parked the car at the parking lot and got the food. "Come on." They both got out from the car and walked up to the place where he had taken her.

She took a look around her surroundings and couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. "Matt this is beautiful." He had taken her to a beach area and no one was there. "I thought why not eat our meal here." He guided her toward a large bench where they could sit while still have their view on the beach.

They were enjoying their meal quietly in each other's company. She took a small glance at him while eating her meal. She had missed her friend for so many years. Missed all those moments they had together before they entered the University, before he went abroad for two years.

Matt caught her looking at him and gave a small smile to her. "What?"

She tucked a loose hair behind her ear while answering. "Nothing... It's just… We missed you for all those years you've been away."

He could tell that she meant what she had said. Part of him actually never wanted to leave his friends behind but at that time the decision sounded right. A voice interrupted his thoughts and his attention went to the girl in sitting beside him.

"It's nice to know that your back."

He nodded. "It's good to be back home and don't worry I'm planning on staying for good now."

"That's good. I'm sure the others are going to be happy to know that."

He kept his gaze on her. "And you? Are you happy about it?"

She looked at him with a surprised expression on her face by the choice of his words. "Of course we're happy that you're back, we all are."

Their eyes met yet again. She was being diplomatic he knew that. "I didn't ask about the others, Sor." The silence filled the air between the two friends where they both let the matter be as it was.

He stood up from the bench and gathered the empty plates and threw it out in the nearest bin. "Come on, why don't we take a quick look down there before we leave?" he was referring to the beach in front of them so they could take a walk.

"Uh sure." she got up where they both walked down to the water. Sora walked a few steps ahead of him where she stood enjoying the view of the beach and the warm breeze passing them ever so lightly. The dark blue water was glowing in the late evening where the water was washing up the shore into the sand and back to its home. Both smiled by the beautiful view in front of them.

Suddenly an idea struck her. She turned her attention toward the blond with a slight smirk on her face. She started to take off her flat shoes and walked into the water where the water went to her ankles. "Come on."

He simply crossed his arms and shook his head at her giving her a smile. "I'm perfectly fine where I am"

She reached down feeling the water flowing through her fingers. "Oh come on, live a little."

He debated whether to go or not, but however he decided to go in. He took off his shoes and socks and rolled up his jeans and got in the water but making sure his jeans didn't get wet in the process.

'_Aha_' she thought inside her mind. She couldn't help but feel like a child again preparing her attack at the enemy. She started to walk around in the sand where she finally thought that this was the ideal position to strike. Out of nowhere she splashed water at his direction causing him to turn around and trying to shield himself from her attack. "What the- hey stop that." She couldn't help but laugh at his expression he carried on his face.

"Sorry Matt, I can't do that."

They had started a large splash fight between them. Matt tried several times to make her quit splashing at him. "Hey that's not fair you attacked me from behind."

"Well, too bad, Matt. Life's not fair."

He splashed water back at her and got out from the water where he got to his safe point. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight in front of her where his clothes were lightly dampened from the water.

He ran a hand through his hair. "Wait till I get my hands on you." he took a look down at himself. "See what you've done, if my precious car gets ruined It's your fault."

She came walking out of the water and shrugged casually. "It's not my fault that you got soaking wet."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Says the girl who just splashed water at me a couple of minutes ago?"

She placed her hands on her hips. "Well you could just stopped yourself from putting paint all over me"

He rolled his eyes and they both sat down and put their shoes on. They got up to their feet and headed back to the parking lot. Suddenly he spread his arms wide open and approached her with a grin.

"Come here and give your good-looking friend a hug."

She shook her head and already knew what he was up to. "Nu-uh stay away I'm not going to give you a hug and get soaked in the process," and began to run ahead of him. He could hear her laughter and he knew that he would never get tired of hearing her sweet voice.

They arrived at Sora's house within 20 minutes so he could drop her off. Before she could get out Matt spoke to her. "I suggest you to lock your door and window at night," he turned to look at her with an evil grin on his lips. "You never know what happens in the middle of the night."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you planning to take revenge? Because what I did was simply payback and..."

"Whatever. A ninja never reveals his plans to the enemy."

She couldn't help but laugh at his statement. "Did you just refer yourself as a ninja?"

"What if I did?" He winked at her, which caused Sora to shake her head and got out of the car. She took one last look at him. "Goodnight…. Mr. Ninja." She gave him a smile before she closed the door. Matt sat inside the car and watched her get inside. He had a small smile on his lips when he thought about today and what they had been through. But deep down her behavior and the way she was with him had driven him crazy. All of his old feelings toward the auburn haired beauty were slowly flooding back to him and he didn't know what to do about it. Part of him just wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but he knew he couldn't do that.

Sure he had dated a few times while staying abroad, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get her out of his mind. No matter what kind of woman he had dated, he had lost interest in them one way or another. It started to become one of those short carefree relationships with no commitment or strings attached at all. Yes, he had enjoyed it the beginning just like every other guy would, but not anymore. He had his fair share of fun back then and now he was looking for something more stable and solid kind of relationship – Perhaps a relationship with the certain auburn haired woman?

He leaned forward on the steering wheel where he lightly rested his forehead on it. He exhaled loudly. '_God, get it together, Matt, get it together_'. He started the engine and drove toward his house hoping he could put those thoughts a rest for now.

The next morning Matt had yet again gotten up early so he could put some of his things into the different rooms of the house.

The house had three rooms; two of them were bedrooms and one living room. Other than that, he had a kitchen, one bathroom and a garage as well.

He had started with decorating his living room where he shifted his white leather sofa and the coffee table on one side of the room. He then turned his attention toward the table for the TV he had bought and placed it on the opposite side of the large sofa. He moved all the speakers of the TV and placed them on each side of the table. He needed to attach the widescreen TV on the wall, which he thought he could do later on in the evening. 2 black floor lamps were placed at each side of the room so light could be seen when it was needed. He had already set up a book case at the back of the room though it was pretty empty as all of his things were placed in boxes at the garage.

His eyes traveled around where he saw some black writing on one of the walls. He smiled slightly by the work, which kept him awake last night before going to bed. He had written couple of phrases of one of his last songs he had composed in his career down. He felt like it was the very last creative piece he ever had written before moving on with his life. His eyes traveled on each word and line and sighed how they had a special meaning toward him.

_Trying to live and love,  
With a heart that can't be broken,  
Is like trying to see the light with eyes that can't be opened.  
Yeah, we both carry baggage,  
We picked up on our way, so if you love me do it gently,  
And I will do the same._

_We may shine, we may shatter,  
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,  
We are fragile, we are human,  
We are shaped by the light we let through us,  
We break fast, cause we are glass._

_I'll let you look inside me, through the stains and through the cracks,  
And in the darkness of this moment,  
You'll see the good and bad.  
But try not to judge me, 'cause we've walked down different paths,  
But it brought us here together, so I won't take that back._

It was beautiful written on the plain white wall that made the living room even more elegant and beautiful.

When he had finished decorating the room he took a small glance around where his eyes focused on the new black grand piano that he had gotten from his old band manager as a thank you and a good luck gift for him. He felt touched by his gesture toward them as the others had gotten a gift from him as well.

He walked past the hallway where he had hung two large paintings on the walls.

He finally reached his own bedroom where his bed was placed with a black colored drawer and a closet, which was on the other side of the room. Other than that he had a window in the room where the sun could peek in once in a while. He even had his two guitars, such as his old bass guitar and an acoustic one placed perfectly in the room. Of course they deserved their own personal space in his room.

He had made the last room of his into a guest room where a black couch was placed on the side and a desk at the other end as he managed to make it into an office as well.

A couple of hours later he took a small glance down at his watch and read: _'3 p.m._' He decided to head to the garage where he could carry his old boxes and place them inside the room so he could finish decorating. When he was busy doing that, he heard a knock coming from the front door. He walked toward it and opened the door where he saw Sora standing outside with a smile on her lips. "Hey Sora, what are you doing here?"

"Hey. You told me that you were going to decorate your house today so I thought you might need some help? And the fact that I was kind of expecting you the other night as you said you were going to use your Ninja skills but you never showed up, so I thought why not come and check up on you."

He smiled and leaned forward with one hand on the doorframe. "Maybe I didn't show up because I'm still planning on my attack."

"Sure you are." As she didn't quite believe him.

"No seriously Sor haven't you ever heard of the saying that a ninja only strikes when you least expect it." Sora laughed at him while he led her inside to the living room. His eyes traveled to her hands where she carried a large black vase with white flowers in it. He was quite surprised that he hadn't noticed it before. "What's that?"

She looked down and smiled shyly. "Oh it's a housewarming gift to you. I thought the place could need some color even if it's just black." She handed it over to him where he took a closer look at it. "Wow, this… is quite beautiful. I've got to admit I didn't expect this." He looked up at her. "Thanks Sor, this means a lot." Sora tucked a loose hair behind her ear where she felt herself blushing hoping that he hadn't noticed.

But he did. '_She looks cute when she's blushing_' he thought to himself. He placed the vase on the floor just beside the hallway. It looked nice alongside the other things in the house.

Her eyes caught the wide black shining thing placed in the room.

"Is that… a piano?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I got it from our old band manager as a thank you gift, I couldn't really say no to him."

She walked toward it and touched the black surface in a gentle manner. "It's a beautiful piano." She looked at him. "I never knew you could play."

He walked up to her. "Akira thought me a couple of things about pianos and I somehow managed to pick it up through the years."

"That's quite impressive." Matt smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He walked up to her and sat down at the piano chair that stood in front of it. He let his fingers run through the keys and played a soft tune. Sora couldn't believe that he could play the piano and so well – how did he manage to do that? She closed her eyes and enjoyed the soft music for a brief minute when he had stopped playing. She opened them where he was staring right at her with a soft smile on his face.

She led her gaze wander down at the keys. "I guess the piano has an effect on me."

"Is it the piano or the pianist?" this took her by surprise. He was messing with her, she already knew that but why couldn't she simply answer him back with a smart remark. She could feel her cheek burn up yet again.

"Uhm, Matt, have you got anything to drink? I'm kind of thirsty."

He nodded and went inside the kitchen where he yelled loud enough so she could hear him. "What do you want to drink? I've got water, juice and soda."

"Soda is fine."

He took two cans of soda out from the fridge and walked back inside and handed her the other. He sat down on the couch where they both took a couple of sips from their sodas. She took a quick glance around and saw that most of the things were decorated. "Looks like you've finished decorating the house?"

"Almost. I still need to carry my old boxes inside. There are a couple of things I need to put around."

She stood up and put the soda down on the table. "Well we shouldn't waste time then, come on."

"Now? Don't you want to finish your soda and relax a bit or something?"

"I'm fine."

"Alright whatever you say." They got out to the garage where he opened the front door. They both saw that there were a couple of large brown boxes of stuff. They began to carry them to the living room where he could pack them up later on. Sora stepped forward and carried a box that wasn't that heavy to carry as Matt made sure that she didn't carry the heavy boxes. Matt had already managed to carry a couple of boxes inside.

Sora had just placed a box inside and was on her way back to the garage to pick up the last one. She bent down and picked the box with a little bit of struggle as it was a heavy box. She was halfway through where Matt was casually walking behind her with a small bag in his hands. He smirked and walked up to her where he smiled innocently at her. Her eyes traveled to the small thing he carried and gave him a '_What-is-wrong-with-you_' look where she was struggling with carrying the heavy box. She raised her eyebrow at him where he looked down at his hands and noticed what she meant. "What are? – hey!"

He placed the small bag on the box she carried and casually walked ahead of her where she was almost close to drop the whole thing in her hands.

A laugh escaped his lips where he turned around and took the box out of her hands and carried it for her. Sora shook her head in a light manner and laughed at him as well by his behavior.

They both went inside the house where they began to open the boxes. Sora pulled out a couple of picture frames where she placed on the empty shelves in the living room. There were pictures of everybody gathered together, one of his band mates and one of him and TK. The next was one of him and Tai where the brunet had his arm around the blonde smiling at the camera. Tai was wearing his green school blazer where Matt had it swung over his shoulder. She smiled slightly as she looked at the pictures.

She turned to the side to look at him and saw that he was busy taking out all of his books, which he neatly placed into the bookcase. Eventually all the boxes were empty and they had finished decorating the house.

"I swear I'm never going to move again in my life."

"Well now you know how hard it is to move out."

"Yeah, now I get it."

Sora took a glance around the house and liked what she saw. "It turned out nice." The whole place was decorated elegantly. She had to admit that both Matt and Tai had taste in how to decorate their homes.

"Both you and Tai have similar tastes."

This got the blonde to stop in his tracks and looked at her. He studied her words for a minute and found out that she was right in what she said. They were best friends. The bearers of Courage and Friendship. They had rubbed off on each other about a couple of things. They _did_ have similar tastes – They _both_ fell for the same girl. "Yeah.. I guess we do." He spoke softly to her.

Sometime later Matt came inside the living room with two cups of coffee in his hands. He walked toward the couch where Sora was seated and had her gaze fixed on the back piano. He noticed her gaze and turned back to look at her where he handed her the cup.

She came back out of her thoughts and turned her attention toward the hot mug in her hands. "Thanks." He sat down at the other couch beside her. He took a sip from his hot coffee and gave her a look.

"I can see you like the piano a lot."

She moved her gaze away from it and looked at him. "How can you tell?"

"You've been staring at it ever since you've got here"

She slowly made herself look down at the ground. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to."

"Hey it's okay, there's nothing to feel sorry about." He paused and studied her for a moment. "So care to tell me the reason behind the staring?"

She shrugged her shoulders and looked up to meet his eyes. "I guess it's just a beautiful piece of perfection."

Somehow he didn't buy the reason. He knew that there was something else. "And…?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "And what?"

"There's something you're not telling me"

"It's just a piano, Matt." She took a sip from the coffee and placed the mug on the table in front of her.

"Well for someone it's quite more than just a piano"

She starred at him for some time. Had she hit a nerve since he said that?

"For instance to you – It's more than just a piece of black shining thing." How did he manage to read her like an open book? She didn't understand it. She lowered her head slightly and looked at her hands, which were resting on her lap. It felt like an hour-long silence before he heard her soft voice coming from her. "It reminds me of my dad. The piano. He would take me out to those piano concerts when I was little. He loved listening to the soft music the keys could create. It was beautiful. I guess I just get carried away whenever I see one. Heh, I know it's silly."

He interrupted her. "It's not silly it's called missing someone you love." He gave her a smile telling her that he was here to listen.

The silence filled the room as both of them were busy with their own thoughts.

"It brings out memories doesn't it?" This caused Sora to look at him. "Music. It always tends to bring back memories you have had throughout your life – whenever its tender moments or sad ones you'll always get something back from them." She studied his words. It was true what he told her, a certain piece of music or a song always bring out a memory out of people. She couldn't help but think what kind of memory he must have with music.

"I always turned to music when no one was there to understand me." The truth was that he found peace whenever he was creating something.

For Matt music was an important part of him and it will always remain like that. It was his passion right from an early age. He loved writing lyrics and creating songs. It was his way to compose himself or get his emotions together in one place and somewhere along the journey he had accomplished that.

He couldn't help but smile sadly. "You know... When you've got something worrying you or you've experienced something in your life, it's somehow easier for you to write it down or play some music in order to calm yourself – you get all your thoughts and feelings in one place." She already picked up on what he was referring to – His childhood. And she couldn't quite figure out what his voice consisted of. Was it sadness she could hear in his voice?

"Sometimes music is all we have left in our lives." He led the sentenced linger in the air. They both caught each other's gaze and knew that they had shared something personal with each other after a very long time.

* * *

There! I hope you liked the Sorato moments! Do tell me what you guys thought so far - therefore don't forget to review please! :)

To Be Continued.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! I've finally updated! Yaay..

Hasnakamila kamila5 – I hope you will enjoy this chapter :)

Aveza – Thank you so much! ^^ You're making me blush by your words. I'm glad that you noticed the slow development I was going for with the Sorato. I absolutely loved writing the conversation they had about music. I really wanted the readers to feel their connection into a deeper level. And I'm glad that you noticed it. :)

Aleena15 – Aww, I'm so so glad that you loved it. I love your reviews and it makes me so happy and the fact that people appreciated my work. I'm sure you're going to love the new chapter. :D

NegaiKoumi – Thank you. I hope you will enjoy the new chapter.

BlueLightSky – Thank you for liking the chapter. It really made me smile. I hope you've gotten better through the days. I'll look forward to read your story when you publish it :)

Pinkkoala213 – Haha! I hope there wasn't too much fluff going on. I'm really glad that you thought it was cute. I have a feeling that you might like this one ;) I cannot wait to read your review of the next chapter.

Alright a big thanks to others who read the story so far. I know these kinds of messages tends to get long etc. but I really want to thank each and every one in a more personal way. Hope it's okay with you guys. ^_^

By the way, I've noticed that the story gets a lot of views but I only get like 5-6 reviews? Hmm, a bit weird don't you think? I would really appreciate if people would give me feedback on what they think of my work. So please, do remember to review! It will help me lot. :)

Anyway on with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

* * *

_**Chapter 6**_

A couple of months went by; everyone was pretty busy with their lives at their respective universities. It was their second year after all and therefore they had a lot to study. Nonetheless they were all happy because they were studying something they always wanted to.

Tai had presented a lot of topics in front of his class. He had a feeling that he would attend meetings and make many presentations in the future. Therefore it was good for him to learn the basics about it.

Matt was busy studying chemistry and math. It was some of his heavier subjects to go through but he was more than happy by the fact that he was going to finish the chemistry lessons by the end of the year.

Sora started to learn how to stich up dresses and how to add her own personal touch into the clothes she designed. She would need that particular skill if she ever wanted to make her own clothing line but that dream was far away from now.

Both Mimi and Izzy were progressing as well with their lives. He was pretty busy with all the high-tech stuff, where Mimi had already been pretty good at making the perfect meals.

Despite their busy lives Matt and Sora managed to meet up once in a while at a small café or have dinner together.

One afternoon Sora was sitting in her room reading a book. While she was reading she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander about Matt and a small incident a couple of days ago. It had been several months since they last saw each other and decided to take a small walk one evening.

_::Flashback::_

_They went outside to walk around the streets of Odaiba. They ended up near Matt's place where they walked toward a small bench that was placed just beside a basketball court. They somehow ended up talking about sports. Matt smiled and got up from the bench to get a basketball from his garage. He returned back causally dribbling the ball as he walked toward her._

_"__I know what the others have told you, but I CAN play sports."_

_Sora looked at him and nodded with a smile giving the expression that she did not believe him. _

_"Come on, just because I was a musician, it doesn't mean that I can't play any sport. And besides, girls dig musicians and they will dig astronauts in the near future!" he said while flashing his famous Ishida smile._

_She rolled her eyes. "Yeah obviously."_

"_Did you forget the swimming classes I took back in High School?"_

"_Right, High School. How could I forget that every girl were practically leaning toward the glass doors just to get a peek at you"_

"_Well.." he smirked proudly. _

_The auburn haired girl raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, I don't think they were interested in how you swam but rather something else"_

_He smirked. "Is that so? Were you one of them then?"_

"_Please, I had better things to do, such as trying to get through the heavy crowd of screaming girls. It was always you and Tai – him with the soccer moves and you.."_

"_With the good looks?" he interrupted her. __He stood and looked at her for some time before he spoke again. "Admit it you dig it!"_

_She crossed her arms in front of her chest and answered. "Jun digs it."_

_Ouch. "OH GOD. Don't remind me." She laughed at his expression. "Come on, Ishida, show me your moves."_

_He smirked and began to dribble and showed her a couple of moves, which surprised her. After he made four baskets, he stood in front of her with a proud smirk on his face. "Where do you think TK got all the good moves from?"_

_She jokingly bated her eyelashes and said, "You of course."_

_He tossed the ball to her and they soon began to play one-on-one. She began to dribble and managed to move past him and toward the basket where she scored._

"_YEEES! HAHA take that Ishida." She pointed at him with a huge smile on her face._

_He stood there and ran a hand through his messy hair and smirked. "You're going down, Takenouchi."_

_With that he came and stood behind her with his arms wide open to try to get the ball away from her. She had her back to Matt, where she had felt every muscle of his body being pressed into her. This made her blush heavily. 'God, Sora. Get a hold of yourself. It's just Matt' she thought to herself. Suddenly their eyes locked and they both got caught in their own little world. _

_And then suddenly they were really close to each other. She could feel his hot breath down her neck. She dropped the ball, and neither of them noticed the loud THUD sound in the background. They were too caught up in their own little world. Something suddenly snapped and they both came back to reality and looked down, blushing heavily._

_Sora nervously tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she spoke. "Uh, maybe we should head inside?"_

"_Oh yeah. We should." He gave a small smile and they both walked back inside Matt's place._

She came out of reminiscing and smiled silently. What she noticed the most was the way he made her blush when he was so close to her. His body being pressed into her in such way did make her blush – even now. She looked up to the ceiling and sighed heavily. She couldn't understand why she was feeling the way she was toward the certain blond friend of hers.

* * *

One afternoon Matt was at Sora's place where she was making dinner for them both. She was busy making chicken and rice with some vegetables. He stood silently watching her by the door of the kitchen. He didn't like just standing around doing nothing – not that he didn't like watching her cook. "Come on let me at least help you with something?" The blond stood beside her in the kitchen.

"Really Matt, I got this. I just need to cut these vegetables and the meal is almost done."

He nodded and went over to get a knife and took the vegetables and began to cut them perfectly. He caught her staring at him. "I can do this, you know. I've lived alone with my dad, so I can handle this." She smiled sadly at him at his statement. She couldn't help but take small glances in his direction and thought how much he had actually changed.

She turned her attention toward the stove where rice was busy getting boiled inside a pot. She decided that they were cooked so she poured the water out from it and placed it on a serving plate.

Matt had already cut the vegetables and placed it on a plate and handed it to Sora. She had gotten a couple of plates out from the cupboard and placed them on the kitchen table. He took them and went to the living room to set the table for them both.

Suddenly a ringing sound could be heard coming from the living room. Sora saw who the caller was and smiled and put it on loud speaker.

"Hey Tai"

"_Hey Sor what's up?_"

"Nothing much, what about you? I haven't seen you for so long, Tai. Have you forgotten about me?" she joked lightly.

"_I could never forget you, Sor. I guess I've just been busy lately. I promise I'll make it up to you. Listen I was calling to ask you if you wanted to go out and catch a movie with the rest of us? It's me, Cath, Meems and Izzy and well, Matt's not here, I don't know where he is..._"

"I'm right here, dude." He came inside to get closer to the phone.

"_What? You're there?_" There was a pause before he spoke again. "_What_ _are_ _you_ _two_ _doing?_" they both rolled their eyes at their best friend as they could easily hear the playful voice coming through.

Sora chose to answer. "We're cooking."

"_What are you cooking?_"

"Chicken with rice and some vegetables"

"_Mm, that's sounds delicious, hey Sor save a plate for me I think I'll be coming over, is that okay?_"

"No"

Sora looked at Matt and gave him a look. "Yes, it's fine there's plenty of food, Tai."

"_Nah I don't wanna come anymore. I know when I'm not wanted._"

"Damn straight." Matt joked.

"_Ass_"

"Hungry beast"

They two males broke into light laughter. Sora stood shaking her head at their so-called humor.

"_Are you guys planning on go out later on?_"

"Uh I don't know, we've just cooked dinner so maybe we'll decide later on."

"_Well, we'll most likely go to a bar or something later on in the evening, so just give us a call if we might run into you._"

"Will do Tai. See you."

They ended the call and turned their attention toward the food. They finally settled down at the dining table.

He took a bite from the food and looked at her. "The tastes really good!"

"Hmm hmm, such a flirt you are." She laughed briefly and they continued to eat.

An hour passed and they finished eating their dinner. They had managed to clean up after themselves as well.

She disappeared inside the kitchen and he stood in the living room when his eyes caught a black file lying openly on the coffee table. He sat down on the couch and took a closer look at the file where he saw a couple of sketches of clothes. He was surprised by how beautiful the sketches were. He smiled slightly and flipped to the next page to look it through. He called out to her. "Are these your sketches?" She came walking toward him with a confused expression but panicked slightly as she saw what he meant. She saw him with _her_ private sketch book. Something no one was allowed to see. "Uh... I must have left it here." She reached out for them but he didn't let her have it yet. He flipped a couple of pages and took a look at them. "These are really good. I didn't know you could draw so well."

She looked shyly down at the ground. "It's nothing special, really."

"I like to think it is. Sora, these are really beautiful." She looked up at him with a surprised expression. "I mean it. I like your ideas."

No one had seen her sketches before because she was afraid of what people would think. She had convinced herself that these were nothing special, as she just liked to draw whatever was in her mind. It made her feel relaxed to just sit and draw sometimes. "Thanks. I haven't showed these to anyone," she paused. "I always end up drawing something whenever I get bored or have the time do so."

He nodded and flashed a smile as he handed the file to her. "You should keep making these, who knows, we may see your new collection of clothes in a couple of years."

She just smiled shyly at the thought that he had liked her drawings. He had been the first person to ever see this. She placed the file back in her room and came back.

He glanced at her and remembered Tai's call. "So, do you want to go out or do you want to stay at home?"

She shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I guess we could go to a bar for a couple of hours? That is if you don't have something to do."

"No, don't worry about me I've got nothing to do."

"Alright then give me half an hour to get ready," she stood up was on her way to her bedroom when Matt called out. "But you're already ready. You already look so fresh and energetic." She knew he was joking as she was only wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants. In reality he was telling the truth. She was looking beautiful even wearing those clothes. She however turned around and placed her hands on her hips. "My hair is all over the place and I smell of food. Just give me half an hour and I'm ready to go." '_God, I'm sounding like Meems,_' she thought to herself.

She disappeared into the hallway and went inside the bathroom where she could take her quick shower. Meanwhile he was sitting in the living room waiting for her to finish getting ready.

Indeed it was a quick shower. After half an hour she came inside the living room wearing a white shirtdress with a contrast leather belt around the waist. It was sleeveless and had a traditional collar with a lace panel at the back. It had a dipped hemline that fell just above her knees.

Her hair was slightly damp from the shower but it fell loosely around her shoulders. She wasn't wearing much make up just some mascara and some lip-gloss and she was ready to go. She looked beautiful in Matt's eyes. "I told you I was quick."

She noticed that he glanced her way with a smile on his face. "You look beautiful, Sor." She caught his gaze and smiled back at him.

He stood up from the couch and grabbed his black leather jacket. She walked to the shelf where her phone and keys were placed and grabbed her small black purse. With that they both walked out from the house into Matt's car to drive toward a nearby bar.

After driving for 30 minutes heading toward down town Odaiba they pulled up in front of a bar where they could spend their evening.

They entered the front doors where they saw that there were a lot of people enjoying their night with friends. Matt made sure that Sora followed him through the crowd and managed to find an empty table to sit in. They got settled and Matt took off his jacket in order to relax a bit. They both took a glance around. Matt's eyes caught the bartender and turned his attention toward the red haired beauty in front of him.

"What do you want to drink?"

"Um just an Apple Martini for me." He nodded and began to stand up from his chair. "I'll be right back." She was about to give him money, but he was already gone, making his way toward the counter. She sighed as she remembered what he had told her – '_I'm a gentleman therefore I'm not going to let you pay whenever we'll go out._'

She closed her purse and placed it on the table. She took a small glance his way where he was leaning toward the counter telling the bartender his order. She couldn't help but think how handsome he looked in his black button up shirt. She noticed earlier that the top buttons were opened giving the girls a glimpse of his pale muscular chest.

What she saw next was a brown haired woman walking up to Matt. She placed her hand on his chest. They talked a bit – more like she was flirting with him before he looked back at Sora and turned his attention to the woman in front of him. The woman then looked back at Sora and gave her a death glare and walked away from the blond haired guy. He stood shaking his head lightly and saw that the bartender gave him the drinks he had ordered.

He returned back to the table with two drinks in his hands for her and himself. They were sitting at the table enjoying each other's company.

"You have a woman flirting with you already." He raised an eyebrow at her as he took a sip from his drink. He smirked playfully at her. "So you've noticed?"

"It was just a quick observation."

"I don't know, I guess I'm just too hard to resist."

"Oh god, you sound like Tai, no wonder you two are best friends," she said as she rolled her eyes and took a sip from her Apple Martini while his gaze traveled around the bar. "Well, you've got all the guys looking at your way ever since we've entered – I guess we're even."

They had stayed at the bar for a couple of more hours before they eventually decided to head home. They stood up from their table and were heading toward the exit among the heavy crowd. Sora placed a hand on his shoulder that made him turn around.

"Can you wait a bit? I need to go to the rest room."

"Yeah that's fine. I'll wait for you here." She smiled and turned around to find the rest room, which was at the other side of the bar.

She went inside a long hallway and got to the toilet. After a few minutes she came out to wash her hands where she looked at herself in the mirror. She dried her hands and ran a hand through her hair before she walked outside with her purse in hand.

She made her way to the long hallway where a couple of guys saw her walking. One of them nudged his head to her direction to his friends and smirked.

She came out and walked past the moving crowd but stopped when she saw a couple of guys blocking her way. They had their backs toward her so she couldn't see their faces.

"Um excuse me can I get through?"

They turned around and Sora saw a guy with jet black hair look at her in a lustful way.

"You wanna get through? Why not stay here and spend some time with us?"

Another guy with brown hair blocked her way. "Yeah babe, we could show you a real good time." With that said they began to get closer to her in a way that Sora did not like.

She however ignored them and tried to walk past them but they were still blocking her way. "Move out of my way." She looked at them. "I said move out of my way!" They laughed when she finally moved past them.

She kept walking through the crowd trying to get the incident out from her head. When she spotted her blond haired friend she let out a breath which she was holding.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah." She forced a smile at him.

They walked out and moved toward the car, which was parked at the parking lot. But on their way there she saw the guys she bumped into earlier.

They started to whistle at her. "Come on baby, where are you going with that short dress of yours? What do you say you leave him to go with us? We could show you a real good time."

"Yeah, you never answered our question before."

Both Matt and Sora could see that they were a bit drunk but it was no excuse to talk to a girl like that.

He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at Sora who clearly didn't like their introduction at all. Had she seen them before? If so why didn't she say anything to him?

"You better mind your own business," he said in a threatening voice. He took a step towards the group but Sora held him back by grabbing his arm.

"Oh what are you going to do? Hide behind your redhead of a girlfriend?" a black haired guy asked in a challenging voice. He crooked his head slightly and smirked when he saw that Sora tried to hold him back.

"She's probably a slut since you're getting something out from her."

"But do leave her for us when you're done with her."

This was the breaking point for him. He was about to raise his arm to punch the guy in front him but was stopped by Sora once again. "Matt please, let's just get out of here, please." She was clearly affected by the words they had thrown her way.

Matt did as he was told and walked to the car despite what the guys were yelling the whole time. He could feel his blood boiling with each word they had said.

Who the hell were they to talk to her like this? He wanted to punch them all in the face by making her upset.

He opened the passenger door and led her inside and closed the door behind her. He walked to the other side and climbed in the driver's seat and started the engine to drive out of the parking lot.

They were driving on the main road but he couldn't get the words out from his head. He glanced at Sora with the corner of his eye to see if she was okay and he noticed that she was constantly trying to pull down her dress as if it was too short – in other words she was feeling uncomfortable. He took a closer look where he saw that she was avoiding his gaze.

He saw a single tear run down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away. This made his jaw clench in pure anger and his grip on the steering wheel got even tighter. He shifted the gear of his car and made a sharp U-turn that made her look at him in surprise and she plastered a questioning expression on her face.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Matt..?"

He ignored her and kept driving down the familiar road at a high speed. He pulled the car up in front of the street and violently got out of the car. He stormed towards the guys and pulled one of them by the shoulder so he was facing him. Matt's eyes were burning from anger. "What did you say about her?"

"I said she was a sl-" Matt punched him right in the jaw before he could finish his sentence. Sora saw this and hurriedly got out of the car and screamed. "Matt.. Matt stop."

But he never did. He took a hold of the other guy's collar and punched him once again.

The rest of the guys stood up from their position and glared at the blond. "What the hell?!" The two guys came forward and tried to get him away from their friend. They took a hold of Matt and punched him in the stomach and jaw.

They kept on fighting. Sora tried to pull them away from Matt, but one of them pulled her away by grabbing her wrist violently in order to stop her from going to him. She struggled with his strong grip on her. "Let go of me."

"Shut up bitch."

The black haired guy wiped his bleeding lip as he got up on his feet. He punched Matt with much force and then tackled him on the ground where they ended up wrestling each other. But somehow he got on top of Matt and took out a pocket knife and lunched it toward him. "You messed with the wrong guy."

Matt tried to block it away several times but missed when he grabbed the blade as it came too close to his face. He held on to it where it cut right through his hand. He hissed when the blade made contact with his skin and the blood started to cover the knife. He ignored the pain and punched him on the eye with the other hand that made him loose his balance.

The others saw this and pushed Sora to the ground and pulled the black haired guy away from Matt. "Shit. We got to go before the police arrive." They took their car and left the blond with a bleeding hand and a cut eyebrow.

"Oh my god Matt!" she ran up to him with tears running down her face. She couldn't believe what had happened. How did their night turn into a hurtful event?

He got to a sitting position where he carefully grabbed his injured hand. He looked at Sora who was devastated by the scene. He suddenly got concerned when he saw tears run down her cheeks. "You okay? Did they hurt you?"

Had they hurt her? What about himself? He was the one with the bleeding hand.

She shook her head. "N-no, but your hand.." she looked up into his eyes. "W-w need to go the hospital."

"Shh, I'm fine, it's fine." He didn't want to worry her. He tried to get up but Sora grabbed him and helped him up on his feet and walked toward the car. She opened the passenger door and where she helped him get inside.

She found a white cloth in the backseat of his car and wrapped it around his injured hand to stop the bleeding. She hurriedly walked to the other side and started the engine. Her version started to blur but she quickly wiped her eyes and drove as fast as she could.

Throughout the way home she couldn't stop glancing at the passenger seat at his hand that was bleeding through the cloth.

They reached Sora's house and got inside where she went to the bathroom to find her First Aid Kit. He followed behind. She helped him take off his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

She turned on the tap so she could wash the blood away from his wound. He slid his hand under the cold water and knitted his eyebrows together in pain. She took out the First Aid Kit and placed it on the sink. She started to help him to carefully wash his wound but making sure that she didn't hurt him too much in the process.

While she was washing his hand he suddenly realized how close she was to him and couldn't help but stare at her beautiful features with a small smile forming on his lips. She smelled like jasmine and roses – a sweet scent.

Out of nowhere he hissed, breaking his train of thought to concentrate on his hand. She looked up in worry. "Oh god, I'm so sorry. I promise I'll be more careful now."

He managed to give her a half smile. "It's okay." She looked so worried so he reached out for her so she was facing him.

"Relax Sora breath." She took a couple of deep breaths and calmed down.

She then turned off the tap and took a towel that she wrapped around his hand. "Make sure you put pressure on it." With that she took the First Aid Kit with her into the living room where they sat down on the couch.

"This is going to hurt a bit." She opened the Kit and began to wash the cut over his eye. She saw that he gritted his teeth in an attempt to bear the pain. She quickly washed it so he didn't need to suffer too much. He saw her biting her lip as he could see how nervous she was feeling. She then put the band-aid to make sure that it wouldn't bleed anymore.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't told you to go out, none of this would ever have happened." He quickly grabbed her hand and made her face him. "Hey, it's not your fault, alright. I'll even do it again if I have to. No one should talk to you like that. No one!" She could hear the seriousness coming through his voice. Part of her was surprised that he had done all this because of her, but the other part of her was feeling guilty too.

He smiled slightly at her trying to make the situation less serious. "And besides it was nothing special. I could have beaten the crap out of him if I wanted to but I guess today was his lucky day." He lightly joked.

She stared at him. "How can you joke at a time like this? Something could have happened to you – you could have been seriously injured – he had a knife on him." She paused as she looked into his eyes. "I would never forgive myself if something happened to you…" She stopped when she realized what she just had said. They both looked at each other as silence that settled between them. A single tear escaped her eye, so she lowered her gaze and looked down at the ground.

He saw how much the event had affected her. He lifted her chin up with his fingers making her look at him. He gently wiped away her fallen tear and tucked her hair behind her ear. He spoke to her with a gentle voice. "But nothing happened, right? I'm here in front of you and I'm fine. You're not getting rid of me that easy Sor. I'm _always_ going to be here for you no matter what." He reached out and wiped another tear from her eyes. She could feel her cheek getting hot because of his touch so she nervously looked down at his hand.

She took a wet towel and lightly pressed it on his wound so it would stop the bleeding. She removed the cloth to find that the bleeding had stopped. She started to slowly bandage his hand. When she had finished she began to clean up.

He took a look down at his hand and smiled. "You would have turned out to be a good nurse."

For the first time since the fight she smiled at him – finally letting go of the tension that built up between them. She stood up and collected the First Aid Kit and went to the bathroom to put it back.

"You know what say about nurses right?" He yelled from the living room with a slightly playful smirk on his face. She poked her head out and raised an eyebrow at him in a playful manner. "No. What _do_ they say about them?"

"Oh you know that they're good at taking care of.. Things." He winked at her.

She simply shook her head and couldn't help but think if he had hurt his head at the fight too. "You seriously need to stop sending time with Tai." She returned to the living room where she saw him grinning.

Later that evening he had come home despite the fact that Sora had told him several times that she could drive him home so he didn't need to put too much pressure into his injured hand, but he had declined her offer. He had managed to drive home even though it hurt. He came inside the hallway where he placed his keys on the shelf and walked himself into the living room.

He turned on the lights and walked himself to the kitchen where he opened the freezer to find an icepack. He didn't find any so he took out a frozen pack of peas and closed it behind him. He held the frozen pack to his head as he felt like a strong headache was coming through. He walked himself to the living room area where he slumped back into the white leather couch. He exhaled loudly before he closed his eyes in an attempt to put his mind at ease.

His thoughts wandered back to today's events. He had been in a fight with a couple of guys because they were misbehaving toward Sora. He lost control and didn't know what went through him that he had violently turned the car around and fought those guys in such a rage.

Was it the hurt expression on her face that made him loose his control? Or was it her tears? He couldn't tell for sure. One thing he knew for sure was that he didn't regret anything. He didn't regret punching the guys or getting a few cuts from it. His only thought at that time was one person – Sora.

* * *

So.. What do you think so far? Nice dramatic touch, huh? Please tell me your thoughts about the chapter - so remember to review, you beautiful people out there. :)

To Be Continued.


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